Strange New Earth
by Mr. Coluber
Summary: After a violent incident involving Reed Richard's Negative Zone Portal and a few Doombots, our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is sucked into an alternate Earth, an Earth known as Earth 16, which is not in the same multiverse as the one protected by Merlyn. An Earth with a Justice League, and an unnamed team of youthful superheroes, who have just expelled the Reach.
1. You Are All Doomed

_**Disclaimer: The characters that I am using belong to DC comics and Marvel Comics respectively.**_

_Note: This is the first time I actually try to write a work of fanfiction. And then publish it on a website (although this isn't the first time I submitted a story to the Internet - it's only the second). It's fun, but also quite terrifying - I have no idea how competent a story-teller I am, I just have to assume that I'm not as good as I sometimes think I am. I don't even know if I should be writing this note on this part of the document. Either way, if I botch this up badly, I do hope to get good advice on how not to repeat the same mistakes on future endeavors. Anyway, just to add a bit more information on the story I'm trying to craft here, the Spider-Man in this tale is not the Ultimate one, despite his youthful age. He's closer (in my mind, at least) to the Lee/Ditko Spider-Man, the one I've read from the first volume of the Essentials. From what I've read, that Spider-Man is more powerful than the Ultimate one, although I'm not certain. I've also drawn from other Spider-Man comics that I've read over the years (mostly Brazilian reprints of post-Gwen stories).  
_

**1**

**YOU ARE ALL DOOMED**

With a painful scowl that was hidden by his red mask, Spider-Man looked down at the Baxter Building. From up above, whilst swinging across the sky between towering skyscrapers, nothing seemed normal. As of late, quite a crowd of people carrying signs were gathered around the main entrance of the building, protesting and cussing. The teenaged web-slinger hadn't watched the news, so he didn't know precisely what was going on, but it seemed that the Fantastic Four were suspected of participating in racketeering. Either that, or terrorism. What little information there existed was conflicting, and honestly, didn't make a lick of sense.

The violent tug Spider-Man had felt from his trusty spider-sense had nearly knocked him down to the ground below. Something incredible must be somewhere about, threatening not just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, but the city of New York as well.

He looked down at the crowd. The wall-crawler knew only too well that the most insignificant man or woman could do a whole lot of damage, but his spider-sense was getting nothing from the mass of people. Whatever had triggered it did not come from the crowd of protestors. It was coming from within the Baxter Building itself, and that sent shivers down Spider-Man's spine.

God only knew what sort of whacky shenanigans Reed Richards was up to in his many labs. Spider-Man certainly hoped that nothing disgusting had escaped the biology lab. Or that something worse had crossed over from the Negative Zone.

All it took was a slight twist of his body to change the direction of his swing. The web-slinger stretched out his arm and shot out a web. The tip snagged the wall of a nearby building. He swung, and in an instant his feet were touching the rooftop of the Baxter Building.

The observatory was just a few feet away from him. Spider-Man calmly walked towards it. His spider-sense was still buzzing, but there didn't seem to be anything specifically dangerous behind the entrance door.

He grabbed the knob and turned it. The door opened. The fifteen year old superhero sighed. Leaving the door open like this was careless, especially with flying super-villains about who could easily invade. Johnny's idiocy was obviously at work here.

Spider-Man entered the observatory, and from there, he had access to the building. Usually, he didn't have an opportunity to admire the big telescope within the observatory or the beautiful vehicles within the hangar without having to put up with the Flaming Jerk, however, now he had to move, and given how strongly his head was ringing, even the Torch's absence was unsettling.

Quickly, the web-slinger made his way to the stairs that would lead to the fourth floor where the Negative Zone Access was situated. He had a feeling that that was where all of the trouble was.

Before he could make his descent, something popped up from below. Spider-Man recognized it immediately. It was something that no one should fear: a H.E.R.B.I.E robot, one of several mechanical servants made by Reed Richards.

However, even as Spider-Man's spider-sense was alerting him towards the greater danger, it was also forcing his attention on to the hovering robot. The little machine was quick to prove how dangerous it could be; its torso opened, revealing the barrel of a gun.

Spider-man heard the percussive explosion before he saw the flash. The projectiles, meant to stop any fast moving object, almost hit Spider-Man right in the forehead. A quick swerve saved his life.

The wall-crawler swung out his wrist, and tapped his web-shooter with his fingers. Two ball-shaped projectiles, harder than steel, came out. They crashed into the robot. Before the robot could come down with a violent crash, Spider-Man quickly caught it with one hand.

He took one look at the robot. For now, it was disabled. Few people knew, or remembered that his webbing could be used for more things than just sticky ropes. Still, he was surprised that something made by Reed Richards wasn't tougher. Right now, however, the problem was in knowing if H.E.R.B.I.E had or not revealed his presence through whichever telemetric link to whomever was causing his spider-sense to go nuts. He let the robot down on the ground quietly, and descended down into the fourth floor.

Even before reaching the fourth floor, Spider-Man adhered to the ceiling, crawling along it in case he met an intruder.

As stealthily as he could, and following his spider-sense, Spider-Man entered the Negative Zone Access room.

He didn't like at all what he saw.

Mr. Fantastic, Ben Grimm and the Matchstick boy were trapped within semi-invisible force-field bubbles. Try as they might, they couldn't get out. The Thing was constantly pounding on the field, while Johnny Storm's fire blazed the bubble into visibility.

Nearby stood Sue Storm, the Invisible Girl. She stood still as a mannequin. Indeed, her face was like that of a department store dummy as there was a vacant expression on her face. This was obviously the result of the strange, crown-like device on her head.

Without a doubt, this was a mind control device of some sort. Spider-Man wondered how powerful it was.

Further away, close to the Negative Zone Portal and a control console that Spidey didn't remember being there, were three imposing figures, all of which were Dr. Doom. Spider-Man was sure that at least one of them was a Doombot.

The Dr. Doom closest to the strange console, the one in the center, and the one likeliest to be Doom himself (Spidey didn't think that Dr. Doom would allow his Doombots to defeat Mr. Fantastic without him being there) patted the console gingerly.

"I am tired Richards" the possible Doom said with a deep metallic voice "Tired of having my plans foiled by the likes of you or the Avengers. This is a quick solution – a solution I think most appropriate, considering that you yourself invented this device, and discovered the Negative Zone and its horrors. I am fortunate that the most efficient of you accursed superheroes live in this city. It leaves me in the enviable position of being rid of you simply by pressing this red button. Your sweetheart will remain here as the countdown begins. She will not, however, regain her free will until it is all over."

A low growl escaped from Reed Richard's gut.

"You'll never get away with this" he said.

Dr. Doom chuckled.

"Richards, have you been reduced to spouting out tired clichés? I will get away with this"

"You won't. Do you think this country is going to sit down if you throw this city into the Negative Zone? Latveria will feel the full wrath of the United States, and if you escape this wild scheme of yours, your days will still be numbered. The dead can't savor their victories"

Dr. Doom then let out a demonic laugh.

"Richards, you truly are not aware of how well I planned your downfall and that of your allies. Do you think that the problems afflicting you were mere accidents? It was my hand that directed the events against you – the destruction of that space station, the attack on Air Force 1, the explosion in Phoenix, those accounts that those investigators found – it was all me Richards! When I press this red button and when the countdown is over, when this city and the surrounding landscape are sucked into the Negative Zone, you will be the one everyone blames! You will be given the treatment you have deserved for so long yet unjustly eluded. All I regret is that you won't live long enough to see your downfall"

Doom raised his hand. It was quite clear what he was about to do. And Spider-Man had had enough. He raised his arm, and with his web, he snagged the mind control device from Sue's head. The Invisible Girl let out a scream, and then collapsed.

Dr. Doom looked at the ceiling. His eyes met the big lenses over the teenaged superhero's eyes.

"You?" the armored tyrant spat out.

"Yeah me. You thought that I was going to let you throw New York to magic No-No land? I eat hot dogs here!"

Dr. Doom raised his iron hand and a bolt of energy shot out of it, towards the web-slinger on the ceiling. The wall-crawler easily leapt away, landing on his feet on the ground as the bolt shattered the ceiling.

The Latverian growled but he did not raise his fist towards Spider-Man. His hand went down towards the red button. His finger was only an inch from it when another hand swatted it away.

Dr. Doom quickly turned to see Mr. Fantastic smiling at him.

"Didn't I tell you that you'd never get away with this?" Mr. Fantastic said as his fist increased in size, mass, and density. Propelled by his body's elasticity, Mr. Fantastic's cartoonishly large fist rammed right into Doom's armored face.

The Latverian was sent flying across the room, away from the console, only stopping as he violently hit the opposite wall. The Doombots were now confronted by the other remaining members of the Fantastic Four.

Doom looked up and saw that his defeat was once again, imminent. But defeat was something that he could never accept. Especially not to Reed Richards. Behind his mask, he scowled as he saw his enemy snake towards him.

From the depths of his lungs, he let out a horrible sound of dark cadence. The Earth shook, and suddenly, the two Doombots that were about to be destroyed by the Thing and the Torch began to glow and split apart, until there stood before them six Doombots.

"Doom, I always wondered how you made these things, and now I know: evil sex magic!" Spider-Man said as two Doombots approached him. "I don't want it!"

He webbed the head of one Doombot, and swung it against the other.

"See? You two don't need me!"

The Doombots quickly got on their feet; the one that had been webbed tore the webs away from its metallic face.

"Does anyone here know any insurance agents?" Spider-Man said, just before leaping and dodging the Doombot's blast.

The Thing and Torch were having a hard time with their Doombots, with each fighting two. The Thing was strong enough to take his Doombots out in a straight fight, but they weren't getting into a straight fight, choosing instead to blast the orange behemoth. Johnny Storm wasn't having an easier time. He tried his best to roast the Doombots, but they were particularly resistant to his flame.

With his armor on, Dr. Doom was at least as strong as Spider-Man himself. It seemed that these Doombots were no different. If it were not for his spider-sense and his agility, the web-slinger would have been pounded down into submission. However, as Spider-Man dodged the blows coming at him, he gave some of his own. The fact that he was fighting robots allowed him to punch as hard as he wanted. Their armor was tough, but he was leaving some dents in them. The Thing was equally beginning to force his way to the Doombots. Though they showered him with firepower that would obliterate any ordinary man, the orange powerhouse managed to make his way through and grab a Doombot by its leg, slamming it repeatedly against the other. The Human Torch had managed to find a way out of the Negative Zone Access room with his two Doombots hot on his tail, unknowingly doing exactly as the blond flamer wanted. In the meanwhile, Mr. Fantastic was coiling around Dr. Doom himself, who fought tooth and nail against his attacker.

One of the Doombots tried to punch Spider-Man, but the arachnid superhero grabbed his arm and placed him in the way of the other Doombot's blast, leaving a big smoking hole in it.

"You really don't know how to dance the Frug, don't you?"

The teenage marvel then ripped off the Doombot's arm and hurled it, fingers first, into the other Doombot's chest. A torrent of electric sparks came out of the robot's mouth, before it fell down.

"Wait, why am I talking about the Frug? That's one of the stupidest named dances I know. Not worst than the Macarena though"

Spider-Man made a summersault and landed on the head of a Doombot that the Thing had turned his back on because it was so mangled as to not seem to be a threat. With one stomp he crushed it.

"You owe me now" Spider-Man said "I want waffles"

"Oh goody" the curmudgeonly brawler replied.

Mr. Fantastic however, did not fare so well against his adversary. With one blast, Dr. Doom had the smartest man in the world out cold. Richards fell down like a curtain. The Latverian tyrant looked at the man he hated. He didn't say a word. He simply opened his palm towards the fallen hero. And then he felt a wall crash against the entirety of his body. He looked up to see Sue Storm glaring at him.

"I really hate you" she said, trapping Doom in a bubble not dissimilar to the one she had trapped the rest of the Fantastic Four in. she then rushed to check Mr. Fantastic. She held his pliable body in her arms and looked at his face.

The Thing and Spider-Man quickly joined her.

"How is he?" the young superhero asked

"He's breathing. He's tougher than he looks" she said

"What about you Suzie?" Ben Grimm asked.

"I have a headache, and my pride's wounded, but that's all. Help me take Reed to the infirmary."

"You have an infirmary?" Spider-Man asked as he helped pick up Reed Richards' unconscious body.

"What bug brain, you thought we didn't have one?" said Johnny Storm, who had clearly taken care of his Doombots outside. He walked towards Reed and helped Ben with him, replacing Spider-Man. Beneath his mask, Spider-Man raised an eyebrow, but he said nothing.

And then, it hit him, his spider-sense. He turned quickly, but not quick enough. Dr. Doom somehow managed to break the force-field Sue had trapped him in. the Invisible Girl grunted, and Doom let out a blast that hit Spider-Man. If he hadn't hardened his body, he would have been seriously hurt. As it was however, he was shoved violently against the wall, in addition to the blast, leaving him momentarily dazed. Doom aimed again, this time at Richards, but Sue Storm was quick. As the blast left Doom's iron glove, it hit the Invisible Girl's force-field. It bounced back, and hit the console of the Negative Zone Portal. The device began to glow oddly, and the entire room shook.

The Invisible Girl waved her hand and sent another force-field at Dr. Doom. This time, the Latverian tyrant was sent through the portal.

Shaking off the cobwebs in his head, Spider-Man got up and looked at the console, and then at the portal. His spider-sense was acting up again and he didn't have to guess why. He turned to the Invisible Girl.

"Sue, I need you to get Mr. Fantastic and everyone else out of here. I'm getting a very bad feeling about this"

"How bad?" the Invisible Girl asked

As she finished that simple question, the room began to shake. A horrible whine came out of the portal.

"I think it's pretty bad. Worse than the Macarena"

The Invisible Girl began to walk towards the portal, but she was stopped when Spider-Man grabbed her arm.

"Hey lady, where do you think you're going?" he asked, his tone serious.

"I have to…"

"Do nothing!" Spider-Man said, cutting her off "You may be the most powerful member of the Fantastic Four, but can you stop that thing without tearing this city apart?"

"What do you suggest we do?" she asked

Spider-Man looked at Ben, he looked at Johnny, and then he once again looked Sue Storm straight in the eye.

"I can fix it" he said, nervously.

"How?" Johnny asked, horrified by the implication.

"I can do it. I'm a science major!" he said with some pride, amidst his growing fear "I may not be as smart as Reed Richards, but I got the basics" he then pointed a finger at Johnny Storm "I know more about this than he does"

Ben Grimm scowled.

"He's right Suzie. Let the kid do his thing. We'll get Reed patched up in no time to fix this mess" the Thing then looked at Spider-Man "Don't do anything stupid"

Spider-Man nodded. And then, something occurred to him.

"Wait! Before you go, there's an old lady called May Parker. The best lady there ever was. She lives in 738 Winter Garden Drive Forest Hills. Tell her that Peter loves her. And tell her that he's very sorry and that he wished he could do better for her. Will you do that?"

"I give you my word" Ben Grimm said.

"And please take care of her. She's been through too much"

"Don't worry" Johnny said with a sad expression.

"Thanks. You've been a good friend Firebug. All of you. Now please get out of here"

The four left the room and Spider-Man closed the door behind them. The room began to shake again, and once again, the portal began to whine horribly. As quickly as possible, the web-slinger sealed the room with a coat of webbing, exhausting an entire cartridge.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Spider-man didn't bother to reload his web-shooters, instead moving towards the console. The room began to shake harder, and the whine became more horrendous by the minute. It would be hard for any normal man to stand up. However, Spider-Man had the balance of a spider, as well as its strength and agility; along with his ability to adhere to any surface, the web-slinger had a steady footing.

Standing behind the console, Spider-Man saw that it was a mess, but a workable one. There were cracks here and there, and some wiring was exposed, but the information on the screen seemed reliable, and the controls worked.

However, despite Spider-Man's previous boast, the console itself, and its controls, seemed beyond his understanding. It took a few seconds for him to get a hold of his bearings and understand how to work the buttons and the dials in a proper manner.

Once he got the basics, his fingers worked furiously on the console, tapping buttons and turning dials. And as this happened, the room began to shake as if the Earth itself were being torn apart and the whine coming out of the portal turned into a roar. Idle things that had been lying about in the room, knocked over by the terrible fight with the Doombots, and indeed, the Doombots themselves were suddenly sucked into the portal by a strong attractive force.

Spider-Man held on dearly to the console as he figured the situation out. He read the data on the screen. The portal it seemed, no longer opened to the Negative Zone. The readings were too different. It seemed that the portal opened to another world entirely. However, the information was too incomplete. Either way, as things were, the entire city of New York would be sucked in, as Dr. Doom would have wanted.

The teenage wall-crawler could only see one solution and that was to cut off the portal's power and hope it weakened, but it would take time. Guided in part by his own scientific education and in the other part by his spider-sense, he typed in more commands and turned the dials several times. He ripped out a panel and let it fly into the portal and began to tamper with the wires, redirecting electric currents and making sure that everything worked as it should.

And then, things began to come together. The portal's power was fading away. He still felt it tugging at him, but by the time the portal had gained enough strength to drag within it all of New York, it would have no power to do so.

Beneath his mask, Spider-Man allowed himself to smile. He might see Aunt May after all.

Spider-Man's spider-sense hit him like a truck. The portal roared one last time. Spider-Man held tightly to the console, but soon that turned into a vain gesture; the console itself, despite being strongly attached to the building itself, succumbed to the immense pressure it had been subjected to. It was ripped off of the floor, taking Spider-Man with it. Desperately, Spider-Man reached out and aimed for the wall. He tapped his web-shooters. To his dismay, nothing happened, and he flew aimlessly into the black void.

* * *

Spider-Man expected death to take him quickly, but it proved to be quite slower than he had imagined. He realized that he was still breathing. The air had a certain stench to it, but he was breathing.

His spider-sense was also active, forcing his eyes open, and up.

As he looked up, he saw a city in the sky, and tracts of land where clouds should be. It took him another second to realize that he wasn't looking up, but down. He was falling, and from a great height.

When he was much younger, he remembered Aunt May reading Charlotte's Web to him, a nice little book about a pig and his friend Charlotte the spider. He remembered a scene in the book in which Charlotte described what spiders were and what they did.

He recalled Charlotte talking about spiders that were balloonists, using their webs to fly in the air like hot-air balloons.

As the city grew larger and larger, that sounded like a good idea. And then the web-slinger remembered that he needed to reload his web-shooters.

Cussing, Spider-Man reached into his belt and pulled out a cartridge. With only the agility and ability he could muster, Spider-Man quickly placed the cartridge within its allotted space within his wrist-band.

Spider-Man twisted his body so that his head was pointing at the sky. He stretched out his arms upwards, and he tapped his web-shooters. The filaments quickly came out. With an unexpected torrent of joy, Spider-Man began to fashion a parachute. Soon, his descent was much slower, and more controlled, until he was no longer in any danger. He had a chance to admire the city he was about to drop into. He didn't recognize it, and it didn't look very nice. In all honesty, from up above, it looked like a more gothic version of New York.

The web-slinger spotted a tall skyscraper and faintly twisted his body in that direction. As soon as he was close enough, he let go of the parachute, and landed on the ceiling of the building.

The parachute itself floated down into the street. Spider-Man winced. He hoped it wouldn't cause any car crash. Luckily, it seemed to have fallen on the sidewalk. The fifteen year old saw a few people – no more than specks – looking upwards. They didn't see him.

Spider-Man began to crawl down along the skyscraper's wall. He walked over a letter. He paused to see what was written.

In big letters, it said:

WAYNE

Outside of American history and the expansion into the mid-west and old time westerns, Spider-Man had no idea what the word Wayne might be referring to. The wall-crawler continued his descent, until he was low enough to shoot out a web at another building. He swung away from the tower and onwards into the city, trying very hard to find out where he was.

It was clear that he was in no alien world. He had, quite fortunately, been transported to another place on Earth.

He wondered if this city was Boston. He heard that people liked him in Boston.

Making sure to stay out of sight, people still spotted him and pointed. Whenever that happened, he waved. No need to antagonize the locals. Especially if this was Boston.

And then he heard a scream for help. It didn't matter if this was a different city, Spider-Man knew his way around buildings, and he knew how to follow a scream.

He found the screamer quickly, a pretty blond woman in a fur coat who seemed out of place in her surroundings, which were quite dark (but then, this entire city was beginning to look quite dark). She was surrounded by ten rather nasty looking men.

They all wore bright purple sweaters and white clown makeup. Spider-Man, for all of his smarts, couldn't figure out why any thug would dress in bright purple. Crooks were stupid, but Spidey still found himself surprised.

Nonetheless, the woman was in serious trouble. The thugs were laughing maniacally. Spider-Man had to intervene.

"Why are you guys harassing that girl? She's clearly not your type" he said, clinging from a wall.

The thugs were baffled; they looked around, ignoring the girl, who tried her best to find a way out. She eventually hid under several nearby crates.

"Who said that?" one of the thugs asked.

"I did" Spider-Man replied.

"Where are you?" asked another thug with a stereotypically brutish voice.

"Up here purple cupcake" Spider-Man said. The thugs eventually looked in his direction. They were surprised to see a slender man of slight proportions sticking to a wall. One of them however, seemed to notice something else.

"Who do you think you are, Superman?" the thug remarked.

"I'm a science major. I don't know anything about German philosophy." Spider-Man replied

"Then why are you wearing blue and red?" asked another thug.

"Because it's better than wearing bright purple like a fancy fruitcake. Don't you agree sweet-cheeks?" Spider-Man sniped.

"He's insulting us! He's insulting the Joker Thug Squad! Let's get him!" the thug that seemed to be the leader growled out.

Spider-Man shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure peachy breeches, let's do this" and Spider-Man leapt off of the wall and in the midst of the thugs.

And the attack began as quickly as Spider-Man had expected. One thug tried to bring a pipe down on his head. Spider-man grabbed it, or rather, the hand that held it, and began hitting the thug with it. At the same time, a few other thugs leapt at him. Spider-Man kicked one and swerved away from the other. Another Thug managed to smash his face against Spider-Man's fist and fall down to the ground. One thug tried to give the web-slinger a bear hug; the teenager broke out of it easily and knocked him out. He then picked him up with one hand and hurled him at the closest thugs. A few seconds of furious movement and punches followed. By the end of it, the members of the Joker Thug Squad were on the ground, knocked out, while Spider-Man stood over them.

"That was pathetic. This is why you should eat your vegetables." the young wall-crawler said. He looked around, and noticed that the girl was still in her hiding place beneath the crates. Slowly, he walked up to her.

"You can come out now" Spider-Man said. There was a moment of silence. Then a hand came out, and then the entire woman. Spider-Man was surprised to see that she was taller than she had at first seemed. She was perhaps in her late teens or early twenties.

"Thanks" she said "I don't know how I got into this situation. I've just returned, and I got lost, and I'm babbling, sorry."

"You were surrounded by a bunch of creeps in bright purple sweaters, with clown maekup. Anyone would be disturbed by this."

"Well, thanks anyway" the woman looked at him "Say, are you new?"

Spider-Man raised an eyebrow behind his mask. He was young, but he had been a superhero long enough to garner considerable attention, no thanks to J. Jonah Jameson.

"Of course not" Spider-Man replied "I'm the Amazing, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."

The woman gave him a blank stare.

"I rescued J Jonah Jameson's son when he was in that space capsule, only for the old jerk to blame me for it"

The woman now looked more confused than ever.

"I've met Captain America"

"Who?" the woman asked. This question more than anything else the woman said left the young Superhero in shock.

"Captain America! Don't you know who Captain America is?"

The woman shook her head.

"Iron-Man? Thor? The Hulk? Ant-Man? Do you know who Ant-Man is? He's the guy that made the mass murdering robot."

"I'm sorry" the woman said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Where am I?" Spider-Man blurted out.

"Well, at least I can tell you that. This is Gotham" the woman said.

Spider-man looked at her. He knew that name. Unlike Flash Thompson and his ilk, Peter Parker had actually paid attention to what the teacher was saying. Gotham was an obscure nickname for New York, used mostly in the nineteenth century.

"This isn't New York" Spider-Man flatly said.

"I didn't say it was. This is Gotham" the woman replied. She looked around and then walked towards a corner. She picked up a newspaper and held it up. It read GOTHAM GLOBE. She picked up another newspaper that read GOTHAM GAZETTE.

After a moment, Spider-Man said:

"So this is Gotham. Not Kansas"

"No, not Kansas"

"And not Boston either"

"Definitely not Boston"

"Gosh darn it"

Spider-Man looked around. He noticed that he hadn't webbed up the thugs yet, so he did that. After that was done with, he turned to the woman.

"Listen, you've been through a lot this night. Maybe I should take you to the nearest hospital" he said.

The woman gave the web-slinger a warm smile.

"I'll be fine" she said. She handed the young superhero a business card "Here, have this"

Spider-Man took the business card and read it. The woman's name was Bette Kane – great, another Betty. Spidey wondered if this one had a Ned. He looked at the card again, and couldn't figure out what the heck her profession was; the double-talk was thick, although the phone number was clear enough.

"Thank you Ms. Kane" he said "And could you please call the cops for these guys?"

"Don't you want to stick around?"

Spider-man looked at her, not knowing if she was serious or not. He presumed that she was serious, given her expression.

"Absolutely not!" he said as he made a tremendous leap and swung between the buildings in a way Batman and Robin (and Nightwing too) could only dream of doing.

Quickly enough, Spider-Man found himself on a rooftop looking up at the night sky, trying to process what he had just learned. He hoped that it wasn't what he thought it was, but given his luck, it probably was.

He thought of Aunt May, and wondered how she was doing. He quickly shoved those thoughts aside; he couldn't do anything right now, and thinking about Aunt May would put him in a horrible depression.

Spider-Man looked at the sky for quite a while. At least, the stars seemed to be the same. His worst fears might not be true. And then it appeared in the night sky; a searchlight, with a black bat on it.

"Where the hell am I?" he muttered beneath his breath.


	2. Interesting New People

**2**

**INTERESTING NEW PEOPLE**

It took less than a day for Peter Parker to have his greatest fear confirmed. There was no doubt. Throughout the night he had gathered up whichever scrap of newspaper he could find; whenever he could, he would hang by a window and watch the news on someone else's idiot box. Not once was there any mention of anything that Peter Parker knew about. There was no mention of Captain America, Tony Stark (and that was hard to fathom), or even of Galactus, who had tried to eat the Earth!

Instead, he found references to a Bruce Wayne (undoubtedly the owner of the skyscraper he had just landed on), to a Lex Luthor, to an Oliver Queen, to Oliver Queen's beard, and to a guy called Superman. And of course, there were other names he did not recognize. Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Batman (that one appeared several times), the Flash (but not a Thompson), Wonder Woman (her equipment seemed wonderful and Peter wondered if said equipment was real) and many more. There was a guy called Captain Marvel, who didn't look at all like Captain Marvel – Peter wouldn't have been surprised if that one was an android who could split up into different pieces. He did recognize other names, such as Washington and Lincoln, but others were strange to him.

And then, there were the cities. There was Gotham, a city named after an old Knickerbocker nickname; there was an actual city called Metropolis, rather than just being a metropolis (which was rather presumptuous), and a slew of cities named for their location on the map: Coast City, Central City, Pacific City – Peter wondered if there was a city called Over-There-In-The-Left-Corner City. Luckily, most of the cities he knew did exist. He didn't know about the small towns though. He had to do more digging.

He also had to find a job. Luckily, J. Jonah Jameson had paid him just before his little adventure in the Baxter Building. Unluckily, J. Jonah Jameson had paid him just before his little adventure in the Baxter Building. Which meant that the money in his belt would only last for a few more days; he still had his camera with him, cleverly hidden in his belt buckle, next to his spider-light, and two extra memory chips for it. The memory chip within his camera had photographs from the Earth he left behind – great pictures of himself with Captain America, Thor and Iron-Man. They were worthless here. He could take pictures of himself, but he was pretty much unknown for the first time in a while.

And of course, there was his web-fluid. He had enough cartridges to last for some time, but they weren't infinite. He had to make the stuff. And for that he needed a chemistry set, and money. Which required a job.

Peter Parker was a teenager in a strange world. Finding a job should be as easy as lifting Mount Everest over your head.

Lady Luck was still smiling on Peter for the moment. He had found the perfect temporary shelter, and it happened to be an abandoned clothing store. He had spent the rest of the night there. The clothes were old and many of them torn, but Peter was used to wearing old clothes, and he had the power of spider-weaving to fix the torn bits of cloth. Before going out into the daylight, he stitched together an outfit that would at least be passable. He would go out, get food, get a job, get a chemistry set and then, go to the library and learn more about this strange new world and whatever portal technology this world had.

The youth opened the front door of the abandoned store and walked out of it. The morning sun greeted him with warmth that wasn't excessive. He closed the door behind him. He looked about, wondering where he should go.

He looked to his left, and went into that direction. He entered every store and every diner he could, asking if they were hiring. So far, no one was. Peter had been told of certain alternatives; of course, he would not take them.

His stomach began to rumble as he passed a hot dog stand. The smell coming out of the cart set filled his mouth with saliva. He knew that it was most likely that these hot dogs had rats and parasites in them, fit only for the alien love-child of Cthulhu and a crab, but he was hungry. He took out a few bills and bought a chili dog. Whether the dog was dirty or not, or an actual dog, Peter could not ascertain, but it did taste good, and it filled his stomach. But he now only had enough money for one more meal. He would have to find a job, soon.

At last, Peter came upon a fast food joint. BIG BELLY BURGER, the big white letters on the façade said. The building itself looked old; there was even a payphone nearby. The teenager approached, and a sign on the window said "It's OK to be BIG". Peter raised an eyebrow. Never had he seen a fast food joint proudly proclaim its noxious effects before. The Kwikkee Burger joints back home at least pretended to give you a beautiful, Adonis like physique. He didn't know how the Burger Frog marketing went – all he knew was that he hoped to never work in one after a very bad visit.

Beneath the ridiculous sign that said it was fine to be a fat lard bucket, there was another sign, offering employment – immediate employment. Now here was an opportunity. Peter had never worked in a fast food restaurant before, but he knew plenty that accepted kids his age as employees without asking any questions. His spider-sense wasn't picking up too much danger, so he walked in.

The place was practically empty, except for two people sitting behind two separate tables eating the ugliest burgers Peter had ever seen in his short life-span. He looked around, and the only employees about were two people behind the register, a black teenager, about seventeen years of age, who seemed bored out of his mind, and a chunky blue haired woman who seemed too old to be in a place like this. They both wore orange shirts, which he presumed to be their uniforms. Peter took a deep breath and he walked up to the counter.

"Good morning, welcome to Big Belly Burger. How may I help you?" the blue haired woman said. The badge on her orange shirt said that her name was Mandy.

"Good morning Mandy" Peter said, somewhat awkwardly. He thrust his thumb over his shoulder, behind him where he reckoned the sign was "I'm here because of the job"

The black teenager suddenly perked up, as if Peter's candidacy was a welcomed break from routine.

"Let me handle this" the teenager said.

Mandy looked at the young man and frowned lightly.

"Okay Reggie, you've got this one. But don't scare him away"

Reggie made a face.

"You're the one who scares them away" Reggie turned to Peter and then pointed at a table "Sit over there. I'll be with you in a second"

Peter looked around again, setting his eyes a second time on the restaurant's two patrons. They didn't seem to notice the youth looking at them; they probably wouldn't have cared. Peter then went to the table and sat down.

Reggie came out, carrying a cheap looking piece of paper.

"Hello there. I'm Reggie Scott" he said, extending his hand to Peter.

"I'm Peter Parker" said the youth, taking Reggie's hand and shaking it.

Once Peter let go, Reggie began to rub his hand. It was only then that Peter realized that he may have squeezed a bit too hard.

"You've got quite a grip Pete" Reggie said, his humor undefeated.

"I've been exercising" Peter replied.

"I exercise myself. So, you want to be a proud member of the Big Belly Burger Family, a subsidiary of Lexcorp?"

Reggie made it sound like a bad thing. But Peter really needed the job until he found a way out of this world.

"Yes"

"Good answer. Anyway, as you can see here, we've only got a few people working this joint. This place looks empty now, but around noon, it gets crowded, and fast, and it only gets empty at around four, so you're practically a shoe-in. You don't even have to give us a CV. All you have to do is fill out this form, and you'll get paid 5 bucks per hour. This place will pay you fifty bucks if you start today. You can choose to work during the morning shift or the afternoon shift. It's all the same."

What Reggie said had sounded like something that could be exploitative, but there wasn't much of a choice, and Peter wasn't so desperate for a job that he would stay if things were going a bit too tough. He looked at the form. And that's when he had a few problems.

Of course, the form requested – or rather demanded – the applicant's phone number, name of legal guardian (if applicant was a minor), address, social security number, etc. Big Belly Burger surprised Peter with its business ethics.

He was actually hoping that this place would be sleazy enough for him to not worry about that.

"Do I really need to give you all of this information?" Peter asked in a half joking tone.

"You do" Reggie said with seriousness. It seemed he had met runaways who didn't want to divulge their identities "An O'Shaughnessy's not far from here was shut down because they didn't ask their employees for their personal information"

Peter sighed. He could feel that he couldn't bluff his way out of this situation. And he didn't know anyone in this world. The only other person he had ever spoken to was the girl he had saved.

A girl who had given him her card.

"Could I be excused?" Peter said suddenly.

Reggie looked at the youth as if he had just rejected the job offer.

"Sure" he said.

Peter got up and ran out the door.

"I told you not to scare the recruits" Mandy said, yelling at Reggie, who just shook his head, wondering why he was still there himself.

However, Peter hadn't gone too far. He ran right towards the payphone and as luck would have it, it was one of the old types that required coins. And Peter had quite a few coins left. He took out the card Bette Kane had given him. He dialed the number.

The youth crossed his fingers, hoping that the woman hadn't met further misfortune on the previous night.

The phone began to ring. It rang another two times before there was an answer.

"Hello?"

Peter recognized the voice immediately. He was about to answer when he remembered that she had met Spider-Man, not Peter Parker. In a hurry, Peter pulled out his mask and covered the phone's microphone with it, hoping to replicate Spidey's muffled voice.

"Ms. Kane, I'm glad to see that you're OK. Or hear that you're OK."

There was a moment of silence.

"It's you! The Spider-Man!" she then exclaimed

"Of course!" Spider-Man said lightheartedly. However, his tone soon became more serious "Ms. Kane, I'm very sorry to bother you, but you're the only one I know here, and I'm in a bit of a jam"

"What's wrong?"

Peter hesitated, thinking about what he was going to say to the woman, without revealing his secret identity.

"There's this kid I know. His name is Peter Parker, and he's from out of town, just like me. I owe his uncle a great deal and I'm supposed to help him out, but I can't. He's being chased by an evil demon…" Spider-Man paused "…called Dormammu. Anyway, he's here looking for a job at a Big Belly Burger restaurant and he needs an address, a phone number and a social security number. I was wondering if you could lend him a hand?"

After a moment, Bette replied:

"How old is this kid?"

Spider-Man sighed. He considered lying to her but that always led to further grief.

"Fifteen"

"He shouldn't be working at Big Belly Burger. I'll take him in"

"What? No, he can take care of himself"

"No he can't. Didn't you say that you owed his uncle?"

"Y-yes"

"And aren't you a superhero? Then give me the kid's location and tell him I'm coming for him"

Peter sighed. He looked towards the sign

"He's at 42 Finger Street"

"Tell him to wait for me" Bette said "What does he look like?"

Spider-Man sighed

"Normal, with short hair." he looked down at himself "He's wearing old clothes"

"Alright then. Tell him to stay put. I'll be there in a jiffy" she then hung up.

Peter placed the receiver back in its place. His mask went back into his pocket. The teen looked at the Big Belly Burger restaurant. It seemed that he wasn't going to work there after all. He wondered if that was good or bad.

* * *

Twenty minutes later a sports car of a type Peter had never seen before appeared around the corner, and slowed down next to him. The passenger window rolled down, and Bette stuck her head out.

"Are you Peter?" she asked

"Yes" the youth said "Peter Parker. I'm being chased by Dormammu, which is why I'm not at home" the teenager nodded his head nervously. The exposition was clumsy, but he still hoped it was convincing enough.

Bette opened the door and got out of the car. Obviously, someone was there with her (otherwise, who would have driven the car); in this case it was a young man of about eighteen years of age.

He was dark haired, tall, handsome. Looked like an acrobat. He was the type of guy that always got the girl. The car was probably his. Peter wondered if his name was Ned. He looked like a Ned, or at least, a Ted. Of course, he wasn't blond, but still, he had the look.

"Hello Peter, I'm Bette Kane" she said extending her hand. Nervously, Peter shook it. "I'm sure your mysterious friend told you about me" she continued.

"Yes he did" Peter said.

Bette looked at Peter.

"Well, you certainly are dressed in old clothes. Where are the rest of your things?" she asked

Peter shrugged.

"This is all I have"

Bette's eyes widened.

"Don't be shy, get in" she said, opening the back door for him. Peter nodded and added a smile to that nod, and he slipped into the backseat.

This was a rich boy's car. The car's leather seats were unusually clean, and unusually comfortable. From what Peter could see of the dashboard, it was filled with gadgets he had never seen before, not even in commercials. At the back of Bette's seat, right in front of Peter, there was a screen, and lodged within a shelf-like extension, a video game controller. The kid from New York looked up and saw a plasma screen folded against the car ceiling. This Ned was beginning to irk Peter.

The driver turned to face Peter.

"Hi Peter. I'm Dick. Dick Grayson, age nineteen."

_With a car like this, of course you are._

Peter shook Dick's hand.

"Hi" he replied "Is this your car?"

"Yes, and I had to work hard for it, so don't think I'm some spoiled brat. Besides, it's not the coolest car I've been in."

Peter wondered if that was supposed to make him feel better. Without much ado, Dick got to do what he was supposed to, and drive. The car went along, smoothly – it had good suspension.

"Where are you going?" Bette asked as Dick turned a corner.

"Relax, this is a shortcut" Dick replied.

The expensive sports car now entered streets that had seen better days, passing by guys that looked like stereotypical mobsters. Strangely enough, Dick seemed to be looking more at the people on the street than on the road itself. Eventually, the car left the dirty neighborhood, much to Bette's relief. She lightly slapped Dick on the head. The young man let out a yelp.

"Never do that again" Bette said.

The car now entered a finer part of the city. The buildings were cleaner, statelier. They were passing a circular tower with a needle on top, clearly the city's tallest building, when Peter's spider-sense struck him, and hard.

He had never felt anything like this before. This was even worse than Dr. Doom and his Doombots.

"Stop the car!" Peter yelled. It must have been quite a yell, because Dick stopped the car at once.

Peter quickly unbuckled his belt and leapt out, running towards the base of the tower. For a moment, his body seemed to have a mind of its own. Peter's muscles were tensed, ready to launch him up to the tower. He had to rein himself in, and it was a hard effort.

He looked up, nonetheless, and he saw a large, monstrous, blue and gray figure standing in front of the tower's dome. Whoever, or whatever it was, wasn't human, Peter could determine that much. His hands were behind his back, and he seemed to be looking down on the city studiously. He then, thankfully, turned his back. There was a flash of light, and the strange figure was gone.

The startled teen felt a tap on his shoulder. He suddenly turned, his fist ready to punch whoever was behind him. He let his hand fall down to his side when he saw that it was just Dick.

"Is something wrong Peter?" Bette asked. Dick just looked at him.

"I, I thought that I had seen something" Peter said. Clearly they hadn't seen what he had seen, and there was no need to alarm them just yet.

"Dormammu, perhaps?" Dick said lightly.

"Yeah. Maybe"

"Don't think about that" Bette said. She then gave Dick a stern look "And don't you tease him!"

Dick looked genuinely shocked.

"Why would I tease him?"

Bette didn't bother to answer. She got Peter into the car and then she herself got in. Dick was the last to enter.

Peter lost the track of time. He was only aware of his own breathing and his heart beating by the time Bette called out his name.

"What?" Peter asked, looking at the young woman.

"We're here" Bette said.

Peter's eyes rolled about, and he saw that they were in a large garage. He got out and followed Bette and Dick into the elevator.

They exited on the twenty-first floor. Peter followed Dick and Bette down the short hall to the last door. The woman began to fumble about her purse, until she pulled out her keys. Quickly, she opened the door and everyone entered.

The apartment was posh. The furniture, the paintings, the vases, the rug, everything seemed worth more than Peter's sorry life. There were quite a few tennis trophies that seemed to be made of solid gold.

The kid didn't know if he should move around, lest he disturb the filthy rich air.

"Make yourself at home Peter" Bette said. Peter didn't notice the look Dick gave her. He was too busy looking at the corridor. This apartment looked bigger than it should. Bette walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

Peter followed her to a door that was ajar, which the young woman pushed open with the tip of her finger.

"This is your room Peter" she said. Peter's eyes rolled as he looked around. It was a nice looking room. Bigger than his own room back home. Next to were the closet there was an open door. He walked towards it, and saw that it was a bathroom. That saved a lot of trouble.

"It's awesome!" Peter said.

Bette's face glowed as she smiled. She was like those people who work at soup kitchens to make themselves happy.

"My room is better, but I'm glad to see that you're happy. Of course, I don't have any clothes for you – we'll deal with that after lunch – and we'll buy you some pajamas. You don't need to be embarrassed. I'm sure that Dick wears pajamas from time to time."

Dick, who was standing right behind Bette, did a double take. If he had been drinking anything at the time, he would have done a spit-take. Suddenly, Dick's face turned red.

"I don't wear pajamas anymore. I thought that you knew that" he said with embarrassment.

"I still thought that you'd have a few about. You're supposed to be prepared like a madman"

"You're confusing me with someone else" Dick said.

Bette frowned. Peter decided that it was about time that he stepped in.

There was a very awkward moment of silence which Peter had no idea how to break.

"Let's kill our brains with TV!" Bette said cheerfully.

They all left the room, and silently followed Bette into the living room. At its center was a big white sofa that seemed all puffed up. A child would want to jump on it as soon as he laid his eyes on it.

Bette promptly jumped on to the sofa. She picked up a cylinder from a nearby coffee table and pointed it at the big plasma screen television hanging on the wall. The screen went from black to showing an opinionated blond guy staring at the camera with cannibal lust.

"Come on Bette, really? Change the channel now!" Dick said with visible distaste.

"Hell no! I like him, he's silly." Bette replied, clearly enjoying herself too much.

Peter looked back and forth between the two, and then at the screen to figure out what was going on. And then the man spoke.

"_So far, all seems well. But wait, before you think of me as an over optimistic boob, I do see problems in the near future,like one of those charlatan psychics that you see on television, or in the Just-Us League. Despite Mr. Luthor's efforts to solve them. I see that the masses still put their trust on the Justice League. We might as well put our faith on the Freemasons, or better yet, the Nazis! They still have not explained to us what has happened with that death machine that months ago was hanging over our heads! Every time an honest reporter just asks an honest question, they get shut down. And these younger superheroes they use, they're no better than juvenile delinquents – juvenile delinquents with the power to kill hundreds._"

And suddenly, there was a clip of a young man in a black shirt with a red S on it, snarling and pushing a man away. Dick shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he scowled at the screen.

Peter felt a shock of déjà-vu. Although the man was physically different, the tone, the attitude was almost identical…

"_They are a menace! A menace to society!_" yelled out the blond man. And that clinched.

Peter's face twisted in horror.

"Good grief! God made two of them!"

Bette and Dick turned to look at Peter. He was at a loss of what to say. Would he blame the flying spaghetti monster? Would he slobber like an idiot? Well, that last one wouldn't be nice; the rug fit well into the room.

"He's like this guy I used to know" Peter replied meekly.

"I'm sorry to hear that" Dick said "No one should ever know a man like G. Gordon Godfrey. And I don't think God's involved in his creation, unless it was a god of evil."

"His initials are G.G.G?" Peter said, astounded. It wasn't far from J.J.J. He looked at the man in the television screen, and pictured him with a mustache. He got chills.

And then, Godfrey continued to speak.

"_And when will these so-called superheroes give up the charade? When is Kid Flash going to stop being a coward and reveal to the world that he's still alive? Does he want to be praised and worshipped as a god?_"

In a quick movement that amazed even Peter, Dick snatched the remote control from Bette's hand. His thumb went down, and Godfrey was replaced with a commercial for Big Belly Burger.

"I'm sorry" Bette said, distraught "I didn't think that he'd…"

"Don't worry" Dick said in as friendly a tone as he could "His stupid antics make me laugh too. But you should know that he goes too far"

Peter just looked back and forth between the two, wondering what was going on.

Dick suddenly turned to Peter.

"Are you hungry?" he asked

"Yes, I guess…" Peter awkwardly said.

"I'll order a pizza. A big one with extra cheese." Bette said, getting up and grabbing her phone.

In about fifteen minutes, the pizza had arrived. Despite Peter's first impression, Dick proved to be a decent enough young man, ably defusing the tension caused by G. Gordon Godfrey's verbal waste. He and Bette were once again trading barbs. It was clear that the two were in something of a relationship; it wasn't a very tight relationship, but it was strong enough for Bette and Dick to share the apartment after both had returned recently to Gotham from another city called Bludhaven (and what a lovely name that was).

From what he could gather, Bette had indeed returned the day before he had met her. That night she had just left a welcome home party in a friend's mansion when she spotted a superhero called Nightwing and followed him into that dark area of the city where Spider-Man had met her. Dick was concerned, but he was also curious about Spider-Man (saying something about the similarities he had with a guy called Black Spider, who was incarcerated). And before long, he was asking Peter questions about Spider-Man, and this Dormammu that was supposed to be after him.

Through sheer luck, he managed to garble an explanation out of reality and fantasy.

"I was just minding my own business in New York, when this thing came after me, and I had to run" was something he recalled saying. Luckily, Dick didn't press the matter any further. After lunch was done with, Bette took Peter and Dick and dragged them to the swankiest of shopping malls. They spent the better part of the day going from this store and that, sometimes buying things for Peter. Most of the times, Bette was buying things for herself.

Peter did his best to choose clothes that could easily hide his costume, although Bette insisted he look cool. She would have changed his hair and had him grow bangs over his forehead, if she had her way of it.

The teenager was surprised when she bought him a chemistry set (one for adults, and not children), and so thankful that he gave her three pecks on the cheek and a hearty hug. Bette blushed.

"Why can't all men be so sweet?" she said, looking at Dick, who just smirked.

By the time they had returned to the apartment, it was getting dark. They ate dinner (Peter had no idea where the dinner had come from – fried chicken and French fries) and watched television. It took a while before everyone went to bed.

* * *

Peter locked the door behind him. He hoped that didn't upset Bette. If she did protest, he would say that he was too used to it at home. But he couldn't afford having her walk in as he changed into his costume.

He clasped the web-shooters around his wrists. And then he pulled the mask down over his head.

Spider-Man quietly opened the window, and he leapt out into the night air. It was cool, and still smelly, but the web-slinger was used to horrible city smells by now, and in an instant, he wasn't bothered by it at all.

He swung through buildings with a goal in sight rather than just hunting for members of the criminal element. However, he did get a chance to deliver old, stale jokes to thieves and muggers. One heard the tired "Hungry? Have a knuckle sandwich", another heard "Sir, do tell me what the soles of my feet look like" and another was unfortunate enough to be greeted with "Someone's cruisin' for a bruisin'". One had to hear "Oh look, your face blocked my fist; you must be a master martial artist". Altogether, it wasn't a good night for quips.

But soon, Spider-Man saw the objective of his quest throughout this strange city in this strange Earth. The tower stood over every other building within the city. He swung and he leapt, and crawled his way to the top, to the dome where he had seen the monster man.

He was hoping that he could pick something up with his spider-sense; it was a vain hope, as all he could feel was a slight buzzing in the back of his head. Whatever was up here had left little trace, and would probably never return.

But then, why was it here in the first place?

The presence of something so horrible, of something that had triggered his spider-sense in a way that Peter had never felt before had horrible implications. What horrors was this world about to face?

Spider-Man immediately regretted not having told Dick or Bette about this. They might not be able to do much, but at least they'd be prepared. Or they could warn some of this world's superheroes.

He would talk to Dick later.

Perhaps there would be a silver lining. Perhaps whatever had allowed that monster to teleport away could be used to teleport him back home. His inner science major however, snapped him back to reality. Just because he saw something disappear, did not mean it could disappear into another alternate Earth, let alone the correct one. Spider-Man sighed. His situation seemed hopeless.

He would have to return to Bette's home, wake everyone up, and tell them what he saw, now.

Before leaping off of the building, Spider-Man stopped in his tracks. He quickly turned behind in time to see a cable silently flying upwards and attaching itself to the needle on the tower. Seconds later, a dark figure came jumping out of the darkness below.

He was tall and strong. In a way, Spider-Man was reminded of Captain America, but that was only in terms of body-type and in apparent strength; in terms of personality, the two men couldn't be further apart. Whereas Captain America – his moments of righteous anger notwithstanding – was a warm and open person, this man seemed to be the opposite. He wore a dark getup: a black cape and cowl, black gloves with sharp scallops on them, and matching black boots. His mask covered most of his face save for his mouth and chin (which reminded Spider-Man of this Canadian guy who's picture he had seen, but without the absurd extensions), and it had two pointy ears on it. The rest of his attire (apart from the black trunks) was gray with a black bat on his chest. He had a dull yellow belt around his waist that had several pouches along it – a sort of enhanced version of the belt Spider-Man had under his costume.

The strange man observed Spider-Man silently.

It was then that it occurred to Spider-Man who this man might be. He hadn't seen a picture of the man yet, but he had read about him in the abandoned newspapers, and a mugger he had punched screamed out his name.

"Are you… Batman?" Spider-Man asked.

"I am" the dark man said, calmly and readily.

Inwardly, Spider-Man sighed with relief. He could tell this Batman here about what he had seen on top of this very tower. From what he had read, this Batman was part of the Justice League, this Earth's version of the Avengers. If something bad was afoot, they would be ready.

"Thank God you're here. I have to tell you…" Spider-Man began to say, but he was quickly cut off.

"Don't tell me anything. I don't want to hear it. I want you out of Gotham now!"

Behind his lenses, Spider-Man blinked. He cleared his throat.

"Listen Mister, calm down…"

"Don't say a word kid. Now is not the time for you to play games. You think you're smart because you took Black Spider's equipment, or that you're good because you're using it to fight crime, but you're not. Go back home before you get yourself seriously hurt, or you get someone else hurt. And I mean it when I say I never want to see you in Gotham again. I will make you regret it" Batman roared, strangely tapping his belt as he did so.

The dark man's tone struck a dark chord within Spider-Man's heart.

"I can't go home! But that's not important! I…" and then, just as he was about to explain everything to this Batman guy, it went off, even before Batman made a move. He didn't know exactly what problem this guy had, but if he wanted a fight, well, he was going to get one. Spider-Man jumped and turned and landed neatly on the tower's dome as a few darts fell on the place he had been standing. He didn't crawl on the dome as he would have usually done; he stood as tall as he could on both feet. Whenever he stood like this on non horizontal surfaces, it disturbed people. As it was, he was trying to tell this dark superhero that he was taking a stand and not backing down.

"What the hell is your problem? Do you just attack people who try to help you? No wonder this place is a dump. You sir, are incompetent!" Spider-Man yelled in anger. Batman was quick, throwing what looked like one of the Green Goblin's razor bats at him. Spider-Man however, was quicker, catching the metallic bat. And then, once again, his spider-sense saved his bacon. He hurled it back at Batman before it could shock him; the dark knight barely dodged it. The man in black was surprised, that was clear to see.

"Mister, let me tell you something about bats. They belong to the order Chiroptera, which is Greek for hand wing. Many people call them flying mice but they're more closely related to shrews and moles. They have a diverse diet. They eat a lot of insects, they suck some blood, and on occasion, they can eat mice, small birds, and frogs. No animal larger than that is afraid of them. NONE WHATSOEVER! Owls kill them, snakes kill them, and housecats kill them. You want to know what else can kill them?"

And then, Spider-Man suddenly lunged at Batman. The teenager shot out his fist, and Batman barely blocked it with his gloved forearm. The scallops cut through Spider-Man's suit, but they didn't draw blood, merely leaving a scratch mark.

Batman winced. The young superhero hit harder than he had expected. Judging from the pain, his arm wasn't broken, but if he blocked more punches like that, it would break. He had to finish this quickly. He turned on the finger taser.

Spider-Man was faster than that. He moved out of the bolt's way, towards Batman's right side. With his right hand, he grabbed the dark knight's wrist and squeezed tightly. As he did this his left hand curled into a fist and was slammed hard against Batman's gut.

"SPIDERS!" Spider-Man yelled into Batman's ear. Then, still holding Batman's wrist with his right hand, he violently lifted the dark knight off of his feet, and slammed his back against the dome wall. "Go check it out on Youtube!"

Before Batman could move, Spider-Man shot out his webs and had him restrained from toe to neck. Batman was webbed against the dome of the tower with only his head exposed. Spider-Man then webbed up his mouth, for no good reason.

"Don't worry, the webs will dissolve, eventually. So be still and listen. That get up of yours might scare the back ally bullies, but to me you're just a joker in a costume. It doesn't matter how good you are at karate, you will not scare me. And the darkness won't help you either. You want to know what does scare me? What I have been trying to tell you until you started being a hardheaded idiot? This morning, I saw a much bigger guy than you in blue and gray standing where I am right now. The feeling I got from him was something I hope you nor anyone else ever has to feel. And then he disappeared in a flash of light. He looked like he was scoping this place out, and might I repeat myself, that's not good. Your world is in for a lot of trouble and I hope that you stop mucking about, and tell your pals at the Justice Friends about it. And mister, I never want to see you in Boston, ever!"

Spider-Man leapt from the tower down towards the street below. He quickly shot out a web towards a nearby building, and he swung away with an agility no normal man could match.

The coolness of the night air calmed Spider-Man down. He hoped this Batman fellow would look past his defeat and at least tell his superhero friends about what he had just said. Spider-Man grunted. He was better off telling Dick and Bette.

* * *

Even before he opened his eyes, Doom knew that he was lying in a desert. And the voices he heard around him told him that someone had found him. He didn't recognize the dialect however, so he didn't know where he was.

He opened his eyes, and he saw several soldiers standing over him. One of them bent down, and tried to pry at his armor. Doom's reaction was swift. He grabbed the man by the neck and snapped his vertebrae. The man fell down, lifeless.

The others were too stunned to act at first, allowing Doom time enough to blast two more soldiers and to get up. The soldiers were now prepared. But soldiers weren't the only people there. Doom noticed a few men in civilian garb and who did not have the look of soldiers. One of them was too old and too fat to be a soldier. A soldier aimed and fired. The bullet hit Doom's shoulder, but it did not penetrate his armor. Doom raised his hand and aimed at the soldier. Nothing happened.

This was an unpleasant surprise. The armor must have been damaged during his last altercation with Richards. He stood still as the soldiers shot at him; he was too busy checking the status of his armor to care about them. Their bullets could do nothing to him.

After several seconds of scanning, Doom saw that the armor was indeed damaged. The sensors were shot, the blasters were unreliable and the forcefield generator was compromised. The only part of his armor's technology that was not affected was the part that gave him superhuman strength. It would have to do with savages such as these. He turned, his scan completed, and he saw a soldier with a bazooka. The soldier pulled the trigger, and the shell hit Doom's arm.

That one Doom felt. He snarled in pain and anger. He looked at the soldier; such a pathetic looking thing; Doom felt truly insulted. With his limited flying capability, Doom made his way to the bazooka man. He grabbed the weapon and crushed it with his hand. He then struck the soldier with the open palm of his hand, breaking the soldier's neck with the force of the blow.

More soldiers were coming, and they had tanks.

Doom let out a chuckle.

"Come to me dogs. I will show you what death is like" he said.

His armored hands began to glow in an eerie, eldritch manner. Although Dr. Doom considered his scientific knowledge more important, his training in the mystic arts did have their benefits. He burned down soldier after soldier with mystical blasts. He teleported behind other soldiers and either broke their bodies, or stabbed them with their own bayonets. The soldiers screamed and the tanks fired. Doom quickly raised a mystic shield around him. He invoked demonic beings. Strange things he did not recognize came out of the Earth and attacked the soldiers. He would have to look into that.

And then, it was over. Almost all of the soldiers were dead. Most of the civilians were dead as well, except for the fat man. Doom walked up to him.

"Where am I?" he asked in English "Which country would allow its soldiers to attack Doom?"

The man shrunk against a car and began to breathe heavily. Doom reached out and grabbed the man beneath his arm. He hoisted him up so that they could see each other eye to eye.

"I ordered you to speak! Now speak dog!"

"This is Bialya" the man said.

Doom gave him a hard slap, hard enough to send him to the ground, but not so hard as to kill him.

"Do not play games with me! Where am I!?"

"In Bialya!" the man shrieked out "Queen Bee will hear about this, and she will kill you"

"Your jests are not funny. You are mad to throw out made up names. You were original with Bialya, but Queen Bee is a pathetic choice of a name"

The man let out another shriek.

"I am telling you the truth! This is Bialya! Look at the tanks!"

Doom threw the fat civilian aside and went to the tank. Indeed, it read Bialya. He examined the tank more closely. After that, he saw some credence to the man's words. It did make some sense. He had been thrown into the portal by that accursed Sue Storm. He would certainly be somewhere else. It was curious that the somewhere else would be another Earth. He should have seen it.

Doom turned, only to see the civilian pointing a semi-automatic rifle at him. The man pulled the trigger. It hit the side of Doom's head. His helmet fell. His expression contorted in wroth. Once ago, and it seemed like an eternity, he had been a handsome man. No woman could resist his charms, but after Richards, his perfect face had been scarred, severely scarred; it was no longer perfect. He hid his face behind the mask so that no one would see the imperfection stamped on his visage. And now this animal had seen him without his mask. He roared and charged at the civilian like a tiger. The poor man tried to shoot, but Doom was on him instantly. He threw him again against the car. The man crumpled up like a dirty rag. Doom walked slowly but unstopped towards the prone figure. He reached out to grab the man, but then, he stopped.

Next to the man, there was the car rear view mirror, broken by the violence of Doom's assault. He looked at the reflection within. It was unscarred, perfect, as it had been before Richards' meddling.

For a moment, Doom wondered if he was dreaming, but it was clear that he was not. And then he wondered if the passage from one world to the next had healed his face. Perhaps time had been altered. But that did not make sense in the light of everything else; his armor still had the dents from the fight with the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. His regeneration was quite selective. And that was suspicious. And then a dark thought entered his mind.

He looked at his arm, the one the bazooka shell had struck. The armor was cracked, and Doom could see blood coming out. He knew he was injured; he could, in a sense, feel it. But he could not feel any pain.

Doom peeled the metal away from his arm. He picked up a fallen knife, and he cut into the flesh of his arm. He looked at it. His countenance grew dark. For three minutes, he stood there with his arm in his hand, his eyes on the opened wound.

It all made sense. It was a mad plan and an insane way to dispose of a hated enemy. Success could in no way be guaranteed. And yet, he wanted to see Richards die in person. But that was how it was supposed to be, wasn't it? He was supposed to believe.

The civilian's clumsiness brought Doom back from his reverie. He had tripped over a dead soldier as he tried to escape, and the soldier's gun had fired. Doom moved quickly to the civilian, and grabbed him by the throat.

"This is a new world for me. The possibilities are endless. I want you to be the first to know that I will take this opportunity to assert myself. I will show this world that I am, and forever will be, Doom, and none of you can tell me otherwise. But I will tell this world myself"

The civilian's life ended quickly, not with a scream, but with a gurgle. Doom let the body drop down to the ground. And then, without touching the canteens filled with water, picking up only his mask, and the remnants of his armor, he walked into the unknown waste.


	3. Look and See

**3**

**Look and See**

Kaldur looked at the image, his disbelief masked by an expressionless countenance. He did recognize nonetheless, that something like this was bound to happen. The Ocean Master was bound to return. He didn't die all those years before. Yet, there was a chance that this image was not that of the aquatic villain. Atlantean youths were just as playful as those found on the surface; the video was grainy and not at all the best. An old marine biologist had captured the image somewhere off the coast of the Dominican Republic, using a camera sold during the nineteen nineties – state of the art back then, not so now. Any teenager could dress up and pass off as Ocean Master. A few had tried to pass off as Black Manta. Kaldur had not liked that.

But then, there was the blade of that spear, which momentarily came into view. It was on fire, blazing whilst surrounded by water, its flame never dying. Despite the video's poor quality, it was clear that the blade was magic.

If this man was Ocean Master, then what was that spear that blazed under water? The depths of the ocean kept many secrets, even from those who could withstand its pressure.

The Atlantean was stopping the tape and then rewinding it, and then playing several times to the point of exhaustion. The door that led into the Monitor Womb opened. Blue Beetle and Beast Boy entered. The green changeling had taken on the form of a gorilla and he was helping the Beetle carry a bundle wrapped in a green cloth through the module. It was obvious that they were heading towards the laboratory.

Aqualad looked at the two.

"What is that?" the young Atlantean asked.

"A robot" Beast Boy said "It fell on a trolley in San Francisco, out of nowhere. Dr. Palmer asked us to get it for him"

"I was not told of this" Kaldur said

"Maybe you were too occupied with Atlantean business" Blue Beetle remarked.

Kaldur gave him a stern look.

"I should have been told"

Beast Boy and Blue Beetle looked at each other.

"Sorry" Blue Beetle meekly said.

"I'm going with you. This may be of some importance" Kaldur said.

"Probably isn't. Dr. Palmer just asked us to bring it to him, not to tell everyone" Beast Boy said without thought.

The look Kaldur gave the boy was enough to shut him up.

The three walked out the Monitor Womb and through a corridor until they arrived at Ray Palmer's laboratory. The molecular physicist was sitting at a monitor, wearing a white lab coat over his usual superhero attire. His mask was off and his hair was disheveled.

The ever beautiful Zatanna was sitting on bench on the opposite side of the laboratory. Her arms were crossed, and she seemed to be bored (though most had to admit that she made boredom look good). As soon as Kaldur and the others walked in, she waved a hand.

"Hi guys" she said.

Doctor Palmer seemed focused on whatever it was that was on the monitor. He didn't notice Zatanna's greeting. Not even the entrance of three young superheroes (one of which was wearing an alien suit and another in the shape of a gorilla) would tear him away from the screen. Blue Beetle looked at Kaldur, who gestured for him to put the robot on the table on the center of the lab.

The noise thus produced got the scientist's attention. He turned away from the screen and once he saw the robot on the table, his eyes widened.

"Is that a robot?" the Atom asked.

"It is" Kaldur replied gravely "May I know why you did not tell me about this? Did you tell anyone else in the League?"

Palmer's face went red.

"Oh yeah. I was about to, but I guess I got a bit too carried away with these readings. I'm sorry Kaldur, I meant no disrespect"

"I know Dr. Palmer, but you do know that you must inform the members of the League when tasking other members, even those of the junior team, with such assignments"

"He told me"

Kaldur looked at Zatanna.

The magician looked a bit uneasy. She gave Kaldur an uneasy smile.

"I thought you had been informed"

"I was not." Kaldur replied looking at the Atom.

The magician walked towards the robot on the table. To her, it was an odd sight; a robot wrapped in what looked like a green tunic, with the tattered remains of a dark green cloak and hood.

"Gruesome" she observed.

"Kind of looks like death, you know" Blue Beetle said. The others just looked at him. He added "You know, with the metal mask looking like a skull's face and if you imagined the hood as being black, it kind of looks like death"

Blue Beetle then smiled wanly.

"I think I see what you're saying" Zatanna said "This guy does look like death"

"That may have been the intent. The image of the grim reaper would be intimidating to look upon" Kaldur added.

"But why is he dressed in green?" Beast Boy asked.

"Why is a robot dressed at all?" Dr. Palmer said.

"I think I may have answered that question moments ago" Kaldur said "However, I have my own questions, and I would like to see them answered. Why is this robot of your interest and why did you call Zatanna? This does not fall under her expertise."

The Atom turned the screen he had been looking at so that it was facing Kaldur and the others.

"It began about two days ago, but it was only detected by the monitors here at the Watchtower. An energy field of unknown nature appeared above Earth's atmosphere. It then dipped down, and back up again, diving and soaring, and began orbiting the Earth erratically. Its movements were unpredictable. It emitted a lot of energy, certain levels of gamma radiation – none too excessive – and from what I can tell, it had a limited capacity to distort the pathway of light, which meant that it was distorting gravity itself, to an imperceptible level. Occasionally, it would be recorded ejecting matter from its center. It did so three times onto the Earth's surface, the rest of the material being shot out into space. The first was over the skies of Bialya, the second was over San Francisco, and the third and last was over Gotham"

Ray Palmer got up from his seat and he leaned over the robot's battered form. He looked at it from head to toe.

"In all honesty, I didn't expect you guys to find a robot. I was expecting a rock" he looked at Blue Beetle "Are you sure this is what I we're looking for, and that some robot wasn't thrown from a plane?"

"It has the energetic signature you showed me. And it fell from the sky. I think this is what you're after" the azure hero said.

"It's more than I expected" Ray Palmer said. He looked at Kaldur "I guess I was so excited that I asked the closest people nearby – Beetle and Beast Boy here, to get the object while I studied the data. I'm sorry Kaldur, if I let you out of the loop."

"No need to apologize. I understand"

"I wonder if Batman will bring something like this" Atom said, almost absent-mindedly, turning back to the robot.

"Batman knows?" Kaldur asked, with a hint of shock.

"I had to tell him. It was in Gotham"

Zatanna frowned as he said "I don't think Batman has the time to collect fallen spacemen. He's still dealing with the fallout of the Joker's latest assault on the city. Robin has two broken legs that won't heal for a while, even with my help, members of Joker's Thug Squad are still loose, and he still has to deal with a slew of juvenile vigilantes who are putting themselves and others at risk"

In response to the stares, Zatanna added:

"Nightwing told me"

"I wonder what the Bat said about your request" Blue Beetle said.

"I said I would look into it" answered a dark voice from behind.

Everyone turned towards the entrance. Batman stood there, looking at everyone carefully. Even friends had to be carefully accessed. He walked in, as he usually did. Blue Beetle and Beast Boy had to move out of the way as the dark knight examined the robot.

"It's suffered a lot of violence" he said, looking under the rags and poking about with his left hand, while his right remained beneath his cape.

"That's to be expected Batman. It fell from the Stratosphere" Ray Palmer said.

"The fall did some damage, but not all of it" Batman pulled a piece of the tunic away, revealing a dent with a vague shape of a fist in it.

"That could be a rock" Blue Beetle said.

"Perhaps" the dark knight responded "It would be a good idea to collect all elemental samples from this body, and determine which is from San Francisco, and which is of unknown origin" Batman bent his head over one of the dents. With his left hand, he took out a pair of tweezers and he removed something from the dent. He looked at it very closely. It was a red thread.

"What is it?" Aqualad asked

"Something familiar" Batman answered as he placed it within a pouch in his utility belt.

As Batman continued examining the robot, Kaldur looked over at Zatanna.

"I would still like to know why Zatanna is here" the Atlantean said.

"I told Dr. Palmer to call her" Batman replied, looking at the robot's arm "many bizarre occurrences have a magical source to them. Perhaps Zatanna could shed some light into that, rule out some hypotheses if not anything else."

"I get it" Zatanna said. She made her way towards the robot (at Dr. Palmer's expense) and she placed her hand over it. She concentrated, closed her eyes, and then felt it. She opened her eyes again.

"What is it?" Beast Boy asked eagerly. He was now back to human form. No longer did he walk around looking like a monkey as he had the year before.

"There is some magic, but it's very faint. I think it's a duplication spell, although one I'm not familiar with."

"What do you mean?" Kaldur asked.

"Considering what I'm getting from this robot, it may actually be a magically made duplicate of an original. Perhaps one of the objects shot out into space, or one that fell into Bialya." Zatanna looked at Batman "Or one that fell into Gotham"

"No robot fell into Gotham" Batman said.

"Are you sure?" Atom asked

"I'm certain"

"My magic training has fallen behind. How strong is the duplication spell?" Kaldur asked.

"This is a real, material object that can only be destroyed through normal physical force. It will not fade away" Zatanna said.

"But you said the magic was faint" Ray Palmer chimed in.

"Yes it is faint, and I can't figure it out. But I can say that the energy field was not a magical phenomenon"

"Given the information we have, the most likely explanation for Dr. Palmer's energy field is that it was a portal, perhaps opening up on another point of this Earth, or perhaps to an alien world" Batman said.

Blue Beetle and Beast Boy looked at the robot.

"Wow. Another invasion" the younger boy said.

"Do not joke about this. The last invasion was bad enough" Kaldur said to Beast Boy.

"It may not be another alien invasion" Batman said, looking further into the robot "this robot seems to be a product of Earth technology. The metal alloy however, is something I've never seen before"

"I'll run some tests" Dr. Palmer said.

"Inform me once the tests are done" Batman said, stepping away from the robot "This may be nothing, or it may be something that will cause us further grief. There is however, something that might be a bigger problem. Dr. Palmer I need you to run a scan on Wayne Tower – the old one. See if there are any suspicious energy signatures anywhere near it." he turned to Zatanna "I would like to have a word with you, alone"

Batman stepped away from the table.

Zatanna waved at her colleagues, and she followed the dark knight.

"You will have to call Red Tornado Dr. Palmer. He might know more about this robot's A.I." Kaldur said as Zatanna left the room.

A sheepish expression took over the Atom's face.

"I already called him" he said.

"I should have guessed" Kaldur replied.

* * *

Zatanna found herself in the infirmary, with Batman. The dark knight slowly extended his right arm. He winced as he moved it upwards, away from his ribs. Slowly, he pulled off his right glove.

The wrist was swollen and dark red.

"My scaphoid and lunate bones may be fractured" the dark knight said.

"How did this happen?" Zatanna asked in shock, even though she wasn't in a position to be surprised.

"I got into an altercation several hours ago. I was brash, and I was stupid." Batman said.

It was clear that Batman was angrier at himself than he was at whoever had left his wrist like that.

"Who did this to you?"

"A kid I underestimated. He was similar to Black Spider in appearance, but superior in every other way."

"Really? I didn't know that Black Spider had relatives" Zatanna grabbed Batman's hand and said "Laeh namtab"

"They might not be related. I thought that he was using Black Spider's suit the same way other kids use Venom, or Kobra-Venom, or that new drug. I was wrong. I managed to get some hair samples from the kid's arm. I may be able to determine who he is, or what he is."

Quickly, Batman's wrist regained its normal color. He turned his wrist and flexed his fingers. The dark knight put his glove back on.

"Thank you" he said.

Zatanna looked at him in silence.

"How is Tim?" she asked.

"He's fine. Alfred's making sure he doesn't over exercise. And Cassie's always with him."

"I wish I could have been more help" she said sullenly.

"You did all you could. We're all thankful." Batman said.

Zatanna shook her head. The memory of Robin's broken body was dreadful. She had managed to heal most of him, but not all. Tim still had to use crutches. She wondered what impact this had on Batman, who had lost a sidekick, a surrogate son, before.

"And what about you?" Zatanna asked as she looked up. But by then, Batman was gone.

* * *

Billy really wished he could fly right now. Unfortunately, the presence of superheroes was frowned upon within Bialya; especially when the superhero was a member of the Justice League. A grievous international incident could break out, possibly leading to war.

So Billy had to take the bus to the small town of Dzuba. It was an unpleasant experience. The old Hollywood stereotypes of third world country buses that always rocked about and were always crowded seemed to be true.

At least Billy didn't get any chickens riding with him. He did have a goat sit next to him at one point though.

He couldn't get off of the bus sooner enough. As soon as those doors were open (and they opened with a horrible creaking noise), he didn't have to say any magic word to fly out. He took a deep breath. There was an odd chill in the air.

Looking around, Billy could see that despite being a small town, it was relatively prosperous, undoubtedly due to its proximity to Bialya's capital Al-Qawiya. There were cyber cafés (which Billy was thankful for, since it meant he could upload his reports), clean regular cafés, and plenty of stores that would have looked well within the finer streets of Paris. There was also a lot of security. Teams of two soldiers were a short distance from each other, watching everyone.

Billy was beginning to wonder if coming here alone was a mistake. Although, at a young age, he had a career, and was fully emancipated, he would certainly draw the soldiers' attention. At least, that would happen in America.

It seemed that Billy was lucky. Childhood was very short in Bialya. He spied a boy and a girl, both no older than twelve, offering their services to passing tourists from the Arab world. The young internet journalist didn't hide his sad smile.

This wasn't something that Captain Marvel could easily solve.

He looked into the first cyber-café. It was surprisingly full. Apparently, the people of Bialya liked the internet. Of course, given Bialya's political nature, they were probably studying the more prurient rules of the World Wide Web.

Billy had to enter the other cyber-café which was nearly full as well. The young teen was lucky, as there was one seat left, on a table next to the only other westerner within the building. Billy approached.

The westerner was handsome, with well groomed brown hair and had the air of a man from Eastern Europe. He looked like a movie star, a hero of action movies taking place in such countries as the one he was in now, the one that always got the girls.

He was dressed as one might expect – in a khaki shirt with his sleeves rolled up, and dark green pants. Billy noticed a few red drops on the bottoms of his pants. This was a red flag, but since it could mean anything, Billy ignored it. He did notice that the man was looking into scientific papers unlike everyone else who was researching into matters not so noble. He was presently reading a paper by Dr. Martin Stein.

Billy quietly sat in his seat. He logged on and was startled when he saw the lovely face of Beautia Sivana. His face went red. It was just an advertisement for diet candy. Billy took a deep breath and closed that window. He could worry about Beautia later.

He took out his recorder and downloaded the information, hoping it would reach Sterling Morris. The recorder, it turned out, was a true mess, not doing what it was supposed to do with regards to its internet connection, forcing Billy into using this computer. At least it was a good recorder. Once it was all done, Billy unplugged the machine and got up, ready to pay whatever absurd amount of money the man behind the counter would ask.

As he was pushing the chair back under the table, his phone began to shake. He took out the mobile from his pocket and opened it.

"Kid, are you there?" said the now irritating voice of Green Arrow. Billy really hated it when the emerald archer called him kid.

"I read you loud and clear Pops" Billy responded, hoping that using the word pops would have the same effect as kid.

It didn't seem to work.

"Are you still in Bialya?"

"Yes I am. Tomorrow, with luck, I'll be in Qurac." Billy responded peevishly.

"Alright, then we're in business" the archer said, not noting Billy's tone "Listen kid, according to the Atom, there was this wormhole or something that was spitting things out. Three of these things landed on Earth. One of them was a robot and it fell in San Francisco. Something else fell deep within Bialya's desert. We don't know what fell in there, but if it's a weapon of mass destruction, we don't want it in Queen Bee's hands. You're going to have to check it out kid."

Billy looked around. He had to choose his words carefully. His phone (as were the phones of every member within the League) was installed with a special chip made by Wayne Enterprises that cloaked conversations. A Leaguer could discuss battle strategies and anyone overhearing it would get a trade in cake recipes. Of course, this only worked for electronic eavesdropping. Words spoken out loud could still be heard, and remembered.

"Well, that's quite a quest you got for me unless that toy robot of the grim reaper you want just walks right by me, making my life easier. Once I've done my job over here, I'll check out the shops, but it might take some time."

"Do what you can kid" and then Green Arrow hung up.

Billy frowned. The only way he could find this object would be as Captain Marvel, in a country hostile to the League, governed by a known supervillain. He would have to do things discreetly.

He pocketed the phone and he walked up to the counter. He managed to subdue a growl coming out from deep within him when he saw the amount of money being charged. Quickly, he paid and smiled at the father and son behind the counter.

As he was about to leave, the other westerner walked right by him. The elder Bialyan behind the counter immediately jumped out and got in the man's way.

"You did not pay!" he said.

The strange westerner was quick. He grabbed the Bialyan's wrist, and twisted his arm behind his back; a move Billy had seen plenty of times. However, the strange westerner went one step further; he quickly tugged and pulled, destroying the Bialyan's shoulder.

The Bialyan let out a tremendous shriek and was quickly thrown to the ground as if he were trash.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" Billy growled.

"Protecting myself from thieves. A lesson you should learn" the man said.

This enraged Billy and he was about to charge the strange man, when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned to see another Bialyan staring at him. It was the son.

"You have to get out of here" he said, much to Billy's surprise "The police will be here soon. They will not care which foreigner they arrest. Now go!"

Billy was shocked. He looked at the stranger, who was turning his back and disappearing into the street. The young Bialyan went to his father. Billy remembered what Batman had told him: _do not transform in Bialya unless you really have to_.

Billy grunted, and left as quickly and discreetly as he could. Security forces passed by him soon enough, and huddled next to the entrance of the cyber-café.

Sometimes, heeding Batman's advice made him sick

* * *

Billy found himself sitting on a bench near a fountain that was itself next to one of Bialya's rare cedar forests, away from the confusion. He looked at his watch, trying hard not to think about what had just happened. In anywhere else, he would have turned into Captain Marvel and solved that sort of problem easily. The jerk would have a brand new shiner to present to his friends in jail, and the owner of the cyber-café would have had his money. And of course, he wouldn't charge astronomically.

But this was Bialya. They should have made a movie about this place, and not Chinatown.

Maybe he should say it, and tear this country apart. A lot of good would be done. But a lot of evil would have resulted from it.

"Mr. Batson?" said a small mousy voice, thankfully tearing Billy's mind away from unwanted dilemmas. Billy looked up and saw a dumpy woman in her late thirties cautiously approach him.

"Dr. Rostam?" Billy asked

The woman nodded as she approached very slowly. She stopped several feet away from Billy.

"Please, sit down" Billy said, pointing at a spot next to his at the bench. The woman looked around like a frightened doe before she quickly sat down.

"I would like to say that it is an honor to speak to you Mr. Batson, and I'm sorry if I'm bothering you in any way. I admire your work and I would not want to be a nag. I am not a horrible fangirl in search of attention. I asked you to come here because of something very serious. It was so hard to get you here without being discovered. We are all being watched. Especially scientists like myself. We are all working on horrors. But you have a powerful friend. You can tell him, and save the world and save Bialya, too."

The woman seemed unhinged, but Billy believed her. She was clearly shaken, and it wasn't because she was star struck (not that Billy thought that she would; his internet fame was meager when compared to the fame of true celebrities). She was a credited scientist with a verified PhD; Billy had made sure to check. And it did make some sense for her to call him in case she possessed sensitive information. He was only a minor celebrity, who wouldn't attract too much attention on Bialya's radar.

"Just calm down and tell me what you feel you have to say. I promise that no one will know that you spoke to me."

The poor woman looked around again. Her fear was palpable.

"I am a Bialyan, a true Bialyan, and if Black Adam himself and the hordes of Khandaq were to come here to kill us all, I would sacrifice my life to stop him. But Queen Bee, she is evil. She is so evil and I never saw it until now."

She came closer to Billy.

"I am meta. I have been so since I was born. I dream and what I see in my dreams comes true. I saw myself as a scientist when I was a girl, wearing a white lab coat instead of a black robe, and I knew what I would be, no matter the pain. Sometimes I dream a lot, other times I do not. I have been dreaming a lot now. They are not good dreams Mr. Batson. I dream of red skies and the Earth opening up in fiery sores. I see a monster of a man, gray skinned and wearing dark blue standing above all as a god, leading an army of demons, crushing wet red skulls and holding sway over men, women and children with dead eyes and no souls. I see his servants and the bright doors they come through, and I saw the shadow of death above all."

She coughed. Billy searched his pockets for something, but the woman grabbed his hand and held it.

"I was new to the project. I was told that it had been going on for seven or eight years. They opened the portal and I saw it. My dreams are coming true and the world will burn. The demons will eat our brains and steal our wills and then death shall come. I…"

And then the woman stopped. Billy looked at her carefully. Her eyeballs were rolling upwards and spit began to fall out of her mouth. She then began to whine. And then, the whine turned into a horrid wail. Her entire body shook before she collapsed.

Billy grabbed her and looked in horror. He didn't know what to do. The only solution he could see was to say the word and rush her to a hospital. He had no choice.

"Hello Mr. Batson. I'm quite the fan of your newscasts." said a voice not far away. Billy turned; it was Psimon and there were several Bialyan soldiers with him.

"What did you do?" Billy asked angrily.

"I shattered her mind, her poor, poor mind. Dr. Rostam won't be speaking to anyone else, ever. Neither will you, I'm afraid to say."

Psimon focused his mind on Billy's. Sweat began to fall from the part of his forehead that wasn't transparent.

"You're harder than I thought" Psimon said "I'll need more time with you. Soldiers, grab him!"

A soldier reached out and grabbed Billy by the arm, forcing him to let go of Dr. Rostam, who fell down to the ground. Billy was angered by this. He kicked the soldier in the groin. As that soldier bent down in pain, another tried to grab Billy. The young journalist punched him in the face, knocking him down and with much surprise to the soldier's peers, apparently knocking him out.

The remaining soldiers weren't taking any chances. They raised their AK-47s and aimed. By the time they had pulled their triggers, Billy Batson had run for cover amidst the cedars. The bullets ripped across the air and hit the trees, but none hit Billy.

If there was any time he needed the big red cheese, it was now.

Billy was about to open his mouth, when the shooting stopped. He heard Psimon protest something.

"What are you doing here? We're fine without you" he heard Psimon say. But whatever thing the telepath was speaking to was having none of it.

"YOU ARE BENEATH ME WORM. NOW STAND BACK IF YOU WISH TO LIVE" this was a dark inhuman voice that spoke.

Billy peeked through the trees, and he saw what looked like a large muscular man dressed in alien armor with the feet of a goat, dark wings on his back, and a goat's skull for his head. He held in his hand a golden scythe.

Billy wondered if this was the monster man Dr. Rostam was talking about. However, this creature was not gray or blue. It was still monstrous. He might need to say the word.

"YOU CANNOT RUN FROM ME BOY; YOU CANNOT HIDE, FOR I AM DEATH!"

Well, that clinched it – he really needed to say it.

The creature calling himself death raised his scythe and he swung it. As the trees toppled before its might, Billy Batson spoke:

"SHAZAM!"

The mystical lightning bolt came down with a crash; a red blur shot upwards and Captain Marvel forced Death to gaze into his fist. The horrid beast was hurled across the air, and crashed into a nearby mountain. It was quickly back on to its feet, on a ledge, and saw Captain Marvel flying above. The Earth's Mightiest Mortal smiled at the creature without any fear, like a man who had faced worse.

"I'm Captain Marvel. Nice to meet you."

Death hurled his scythe at Captain Marvel and then he spread out his wings and soared towards him.

Captain Marvel barely evaded the scythe, but the demonic being managed to ram him, jabbing his solar plexus with his skull like head as his horns and muscled arms went about his torso in a deadly embrace. This winded the big red cheese but it did not cripple him. Captain Marvel, the champion of thunder, curled both of his mighty hands into mighty fists; he raised them and then brought them down with a mighty crash upon Death's back. The lethal demon let go of his grip such was the might of Marvel's assault, his arms fell down to his side; even his wings faltered.

Death tried to recover his wind, but Captain Marvel didn't give him the time to do that, kicking him with enough strength to reduce entire buildings into dust. Before Death could go flying away, the big red cheese caught him by his ankle, and he threw him at his scythe, as it returned to its dark master. It hit Death on the head with an audible clang. The two went into opposite directions; Death's arms and legs flailed about as he tried to recover.

"Holy moley!" Captain Marvel said with a smile on his face, following up that statement with a hearty guffaw. He sped through the air and caught the demon by one of his horns; he then looked him in the face.

"I hope you're not too sore with me for laughing in your face, but that was just too funny" the big red cheese said.

"I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS AFFRONT" Death said, as he tried to flap his wings and fly away from Captain Marvel's grip.

"Talk to me later" Captain Marvel said, and he threw Death far, far away, into the wastes of the desert rocks. Once that was done with, Captain Marvel turned his attention back to Psimon and his cronies.

They were still there where Marvel had left them, surrounding Dr. Rostam who was on the ground, unconscious. Using the speed of Mercury, Captain Marvel flew right at them, tossing the Bialyan soldiers aside. He gave Psimon a good slap in the face that sent the telepath flying over the fountain. He gently picked Dr. Rostam up, and he ascended towards the sky. He circled the city once in an effort to spot the strange westerner that had caused the uproar in the cyber-café, but Captain Marvel didn't see him. He flew away before Bialya's forces converged upon him.

As he flew away into Qurac's boundaries, holding Dr. Rostam in his arms, he made a quick examination of her state. Her face was expressionless, her eyes motionless. It was bad. He hoped that M'gann or J'onn could help the poor woman. She didn't deserve this.

He looked into the desert. Whatever it was that had fallen within the shifting sands would have to wait. It would be hard for Captain Marvel to return, especially now, without causing further damage. The League would have to figure something else out.

* * *

With quite a lot of relief, Zatanna opened the door to her home, switched on the lights, and entered. It had been quite a day. First there was that examination of the strange robot, and then the healing of Batman at the Watchtower, and then there was the performance in Vegas.

To put it in simple terms, Zatanna was bushed.

She closed the door behind her; tossed her shoes away with two graceful kicks from her legs and she dived into her sofa. She sat down languidly, and she picked up a stack of cards from the nearby coffee table. She began to entertain herself with simple tricks of sleight of hand. It was a nice way to relax the mind; it was also, simultaneously, a way to exercise the mind. She preferred performing these card tricks over soap operas.

The phone began to ring. Zatanna set down the cards and sat up. She reached out and touched a button.

The television turned on, and on it was Dick Grayson's face.

"Hey Dick!" she said with a smile (and a hint of a chortle).

Dick responded in kind.

"Hi Zee, I'm not bothering am I?"

"You? Never! What's up?"

"You're kind of like a master magician, right?" he said with a hint of a smirk.

"I don't know; aren't you kind of like an acrobat?" she said, spiking him back in earnest "anyway, what mystical matter do you want answered?"

Her former boyfriend took a deep breath before asking.

"Do you know any demonic being called Dormammu?"

Zatanna raised an eyebrow. Some time passed as Dick waited for an answer.

"I've never heard that name before" she said.

"So it's made up"

Zatanna shifted in her seat.

"I wouldn't say that. The word you just said had a dark cadence and a mystic harmonics to it. Some words, and names - not all mind you - have mystic power to them. For example, the name Shazam, it changes Billy into the Earth's Mightiest Mortal no matter what he is thinking of and even if he doesn't want to change because of the intrinsic power of the word. I can feel the power in the sounds of Dormammu, the word. This demon, if Dormammu is a demon, might exist, but just not in this reality."

Dick grimaced and said "That makes things as easy as eating boiled slugs"

"What?"

Dick began waving his hand around. However Zatanna gave him a look that he was helpless to resist.

"You know about Bette, right?"

"The tennis player? Or is she the snob?"

"She's someone I know" Dick said "Anyway, a few weeks ago, she found out about my secret identity."

"How did this happen?" Zatanna asked, in disbelief; Dick should have told her about this.

"It was an accident. An accident that had much to do with the new Blockbuster, Roland Desmond, Mark Desmond's brother" Dick said

For a moment, Zatanna was speechless.

"You mean, that time when you came to me asking me to heal your broken arm?"

"She found out just before that"

"Incredible" she said, annoyed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know how to break it to you. I haven't even told Batman"

Zatanna's eyes widened.

"You better tell him. Keeping things like that from him won't end well for you Dick"

"I know. Anyway, continuing where I left off, the fact that Bette knows who I am has complicated my relationship with her, which was already complicated. Anyway, she moved back to Gotham from Bludhaven, shortly after I did and before the whole business with the Joker. She saw me as Nightwing and followed me. Apparently, she got into trouble and was rescued by this guy called Spider-Man, who's been making an impact in Gotham for the past two days. Taking her description into account, this guy seems to resemble Black Spider, which is a bit fishy."

Zatanna looked at Dick with an unusually dumb expression on her face.

"Zee, is there something wrong?"

Zatanna blinked "No, absolutely not. Keep on" if Dick was going to keep secrets from her, than she would keep secrets from good old Dick.

"Anyway, the next day – and by that time I was staying at her place…"

Zatanna quickly cut him off.

"You're staying with her?" she said with a raised eyebrow and wicked smile.

"It's a temporary arrangement until I get my things in order. Anyway, continuing what I was saying before – and I'm hoping that I won't be interrupted until I'm finished – this spider guy calls her."

"The next morning"

"Yes" he said with a smidgen of irritation, much to Zatanna's disguised delight "he calls her and tells her that there's this kid called Peter Parker who needs her help, as in, he needs her as someone who he can register as a person of interest so that he can work in a Big Belly Burger. Of course, Bette insisted that the kid not work for Big Belly Burger, and had me take her there to pick him up."

Zatanna suddenly began to wave her arm in the air.

"What?" Dick asked

"How did this Spider-Man get Bette's number?"

"She gave him her card"

Both of Zatanna's eyebrows were raised.

"That makes sense" she said.

"As I was saying, this Peter Parker needs her help, so Bette, being Bette, decides that she has to, in a matter of speaking, adopt him"

"Isn't she too young for that? How old is this kid?"

"The kid is either fifteen or sixteen, and please don't ask me more questions about Bette's brain. She has her own way of doing things. Right now she's dancing the Macarena with the kid in the living room and he seems to be in agony. Anyway, concerning this kid; the spiel he gave me did not add up, nothing he said about his past, really added up. The story he gave me was that Dormammu was after him and that this Spider-Man helped him out, because he owed his uncle something; what he owed Peter could not tell me. I managed to grill some names out of him – he told me that he went to Midtown high school, also known as Public School 108 in New York and I managed to get an address out of him. I checked and there was nothing there. And now you tell me that this Dormammu isn't real; he does use the name a lot though. This morning he said that he had seen Dormammu standing on the old Wayne Tower in a dream, and that I should warn all superheroes" Dick shrugged.

"And what's his connection to this Spider guy?" Zatanna asked.

"In all honesty, I think they're one and the same. I don't have solid evidence to back it up, but what I've got points me to that conclusion. Anyway, I managed to get some of his hair from his comb. I'm going to send it to Batman and have it examined. At least, I can find out who he is, or what he is. Peter Parker isn't a bad guy, at least he doesn't seem to be one, but he's fishy. I feel whelmed."

Zatanna looked at Dick in silence.

"I think you should talk to Batman about this. Trust me. You really have to talk to Batman. Now. Immediately. Do you understand?"

"Yeah" Dick said with an intimidated expression on his face.

"Good, now have a good night with Peter and Bette, and let me rest. I've had a long day"

Zatanna hung up and continued her tricks of sleight of hand.


	4. Night Of The Monsters

**Note: Whew! This one took me some time to write, for several personal reasons. Anyway, I do hope you like the story so far. I do however, have some misgivings about my choices. I decided to introduce into the story a character from DC comics who did not appear in the Young Justice cartoon, or the spin-off comics. When I made the decision, it seemed to be the most appropriate, although I'm still not sure. I hope no one feels miffed about it, or the manner in which I treat said character. And yes, the first scene is inspired by HISHE.**

**4**

**Night Of The Monsters**

Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent sat at a table, drinking coffee. They could have been in Paris, but they weren't. This was Gotham, and it was lovely. They weren't sitting within the roomy café; they were outside on the promenade, with a good view of the Gotham Public Library. The library, with its neo-classical design could have contrasted with the gothic nature of the city, but it fit well within the urban landscape. Its sturdy beauty was the pride of the city; the wealth of its contents was the envy of other public libraries, even those of Metropolis.

Clark Kent lowered his coffee cup onto the saucer. His hands did not yet move into his pocket to grab his recorder – Kent knew better than that. Outside of Gotham itself, Clark Kent was the reporter with the most experience dealing with playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne.

He knew that Bruce Wayne liked to socialize and know the reporter, before he answered any of his questions. But Bruce Wayne knew Clark Kent very well; however, for the sake of the performance, they pretended that this was a normal interview.

"When did Dick say he was going to pass by?" Clark asked.

"In a few minutes. He's been visiting the library in these past few days, using Ms. Kane's library card. Mostly for scientific research on Zeta-Beam technology."

"What is he after?" Clark wondered.

"That's the million dollar question. So far, from what Dick has been telling me, he seems to be harmless. He certainly hasn't caused the damage I feared he would"

Clark sat back.

"You're not sore about what happened between you two?"

"My pride was wounded, but the fault was mine."

The reporter from Metropolis nodded.

"Do you know anything else about him that you haven't told me already?"

"Not much else. Dick found a strange device within his room; something improvised out of an old glue gun that was still loaded. After its assembly, Dick found that it shot out a web. It was most likely a prototype of some sort; for the devices he has on his wrist."

"He knows chemistry, and how to make gadgets. He's not alone" Clark commented.

"Dick managed to get some strange new information out of Ms. Kane."

Clark looked at Bruce with curiosity.

"What is it?"

"This Spider-Man mentioned names that she didn't recognize, names such as Captain America and Iron-Man"

"Are those actual names?" Clark asked.

"I don't know, but it does open up the possibilities of what this Mr. Parker might actually be, and where he might be from. There is still the matter of that portal over Gotham. His first appearance coincided with its appearance"

Bruce Wayne turned his head slightly. Clark grabbed the napkin holder. Upon its polished, reflective surface, he saw Dick Grayson approaching, accompanied by a slightly younger teenager wearing a white shirt, a yellow sweater vest, and carrying several books. They were all heavy science books, works written by physicists for physicists. Most prominent were the names of Dr. Martin Stein, and Adam Strange.

Clark took out a napkin and wiped his mouth.

As soon as they were near, Bruce raised his hand in their direction. Through the corner of his eye, he could see the mysterious Mr. Parker shift slightly with caution.

"Dick, you're here early!" Bruce said to his ward, the smile on his face typical of that of a playboy billionaire philanthropist.

"Bruce! What are you doing here?" Dick said in mock surprise. The strange youth standing next to Dick kept moving his eyes from one man to the other. And at one time, he looked at Clark, though not too focally.

"What do you mean? I'm always here when I can. This is my favorite café; especially at this time, when it's peaceful and quiet. Are you going to visit Barbara?" Bruce said, while Peter Parker looked on puzzled. He gave Dick a sly look at the mention of Barbara's name.

"I was hoping to have a word" Dick said.

"Well, she's not there, I'm sorry to say" Bruce said.

"Really?" Dick looked disappointed and down.

"She ran past us. She said she needed to see her dad"

Dick put his hands on his waist out of apparent frustration.

"Well that ruins my day" Dick looked at Peter "Well, it seems that we won't be going to the library as a team"

"I have no problem with that" Peter said.

Now it seemed that Bruce and Clark noticed the youth.

"I'm sorry, I didn't notice you there. You must be Peter" Bruce stretched out his hand. Peter warily shook it. "Dick has told you about me, I'm certain"

"He has sir. He said that you raised him since he was eight."

"And it was a challenge. Peter, I'd like you to meet Clark Kent, mild mannered reporter for a metropolitan newspaper, in Metropolis. He's here to ask me questions on my latest romantic pursuits."

"And that's always a challenge. The man goes through women like a Tasmanian Devil goes through food. Hello Peter" Clark said shaking the teenager's hands. Once they let go, Peter flexed his hand.

"You're very strong Mr. Kent" Peter remarked.

"I exercise, and please, call me Clark"

"Sure thing Clark"

"After all, us four-eyes have to stick together" Clark said, pointing at his glasses. Peter looked stunned. Clark continued "I noticed the marks on your nose. It hasn't been long since you stopped wearing glasses, has it?"

Inadvertently, Peter put his fingers along his nose.

"Yeah, I didn't need them anymore" he replied.

"So you used to wear glasses. I can't wait to tell Bette" Dick said jokingly.

Peter gave Dick a sideways glance.

"Now that you're here Peter, there's something that I'd like to discuss with you" the billionaire said, cutting into the conversation. He seemed mildly serious.

"What is it sir?" Peter asked.

"Please, call me Bruce" he said "Dick has told me about your circumstances. Do you have any relatives?"

Now Peter looked a bit more crestfallen.

"I had an uncle. And I had an aunt" Peter seemed pensive.

"What about your parents?"

"I never met them"

"That's too bad" Clark said "I'm adopted myself. A day doesn't pass by without me wondering what my real parents were like"

"Well, I don't think of them so much. My aunt and uncle were enough for me" Peter replied with some sadness.

"Do you have any relatives alive at the moment?" Bruce asked.

Peter was silent.

"I have no one" he said at last.

"Well then, that's going to be a problem" Bruce said "minors aren't supposed to go around without any adult supervision or education. And you can't live off of Ms. Kane's generosity for very long"

"What do you propose I do?" Peter asked.

"Peter, I am the head financier of a scholarship to a number of Academies devoted to higher scientific education. Dick here tells me that you're a science major. This should be of interest to you. All you have to do is take a test, and you can go to whichever institute you want. I would prefer Gotham Academy myself, but there are others of equal quality, such as the ones in Metropolis or New York"

The young man looked pensively at Bruce.

"That sounds like a good idea" he said.

"Good! I'll arrange for it to happen"

"Thank you" Peter said, shaking Bruce's hand. Dick patted him on the back.

"You go on ahead. I've got no reason to be at that library anyway" Dick said.

"I'll see you later then" Peter waved, and walked towards the large neo-classical building. He disappeared behind the doors. Only then did the three men truly relax themselves.

Bruce turned to Clark.

"What did you see?"

"He's without a doubt a metahuman, despite his looks. His musculature, his skeleton and his nervous system are greatly enhanced. His bones are harder than normal, his muscles are compact, and his heart rate is amazing. No wonder you lost to him. I think he may be able to lift ten to fifteen tons, at least. And the balance with which he moves is enviable. I don't know many who can match it. Oh, and he's wearing his costume and gear underneath his clothes. He has good taste in colors."

"What about what he said. Was he lying?" Bruce asked, a serious expression on his face.

"For the most part, no. his heart jumped when he mentioned his aunt and uncle."

"Do you want me to find out more?" Dick asked

"No. you've done enough. Besides, I need you to track down the Penguin. Word on the street is that he's distributing a new drug, and that he's made an unlikely alliance with Killer Croc."

"Well then, I'll be seeing you. Clark, it was great seeing you again" Dick shook hands with the reporter and he was soon on his way.

Clark pulled out his recorder.

"Let's begin. And please make me look good" Clark said.

"Before that, tell me what it is that you want to tell me" Bruce said.

Clark looked at his friend.

"You always know how to read me"

"It took some time for me to figure you out, but I do know you" Bruce said.

Clark's expression became serious.

"She came to talk to me. Not as a reporter."

"I knew she would do that" Bruce said.

"I don't condone what she did, but she does seem to be truly regretful"

"She can be regretful for as long as she wants. I didn't know for sixteen years. She could have at least told me"

"People with a criminal past have a harder time dealing with the truth. Selina would be no different" Clark said "Or are you upset because you didn't figure it out for sixteen years?"

Bruce gave Clark a stern look, before drinking his cup of coffee.

Clark was about to say something when he raised his head and poised his ear.

"Is something wrong?" Bruce asked.

"Yes. I'll have to interview you some other time" Clark said, leaving the table.

* * *

Peter couldn't help but feel that the whole exchange he had between Bruce Wayne, Dick, and that strange reporter had been a bit fishy. And this wasn't his spider-sense telling him that something was wrong. This was his natural people sense. He felt like he was being scoped.

He didn't know which of the two unknown men were more unnerving; the open and smiley playboy billionaire that Dick had told him about, or the friendly journalist from the city of presumption, Metropolis.

Perhaps he was just in this world for too long. He was beginning to imagine dangers in every corner, in spite of his spider-sense. What Bruce Wayne had told him however, had made him realize even more that he might actually be stuck in this world. He was a kid living off of the generosity of a girl who was somewhat naïve. That wouldn't last, as Bruce had pointed out. And he didn't like mooching off of a friendly girl whose only crime was her overenthusiastic support of superheroes. He would perhaps start to use his camera again; Spider-Man however, was virtually unknown, and Peter felt uncomfortable thinking about following the local superheroes around and taking pictures of them behind their backs. He certainly didn't want to see Batman again; he wasn't afraid of him, but was a bit apprehensive. And then there was Aunt May. What was she going through right now? It hurt just to think about it. Taking everything into account, there was only one solution that could be seen as good. Peter had to find a way out; the best way to do that was to find out if anything like portal technology existed on this Earth.

In order to do that, he had to read plenty of work done by physicists; not the stuff seen in popular magazines such as National Geographic (which apparently existed in this Earth) or Scientific American, but dedicated papers.

So far he had met with little success. The most promising work was from a scientist of the Erdel Initiative (whatever that was), Dr. Adam Strange. His work on Zeta-Beam technology might be helpful. Peter felt that he needed help understanding this Zeta-Beam technology. It was the closest thing to the crazy technology Reed Richards produced that he had found that might take him back home. So as of late, he was studying it, intensively.

With a smile, Peter walked up to the counter and handed the librarian the books he had been holding.

"Here they are" he said joyfully, handing the librarian Bette's card along with the books.

The librarian, a nice looking lady of around fifty years of age looked at the card quizzically.

"You know Mr. Parker, you can apply for your own card" she said.

"I don't know how long I'll be here" Peter replied "I may be leaving soon"

"Going back to New York?"

"I'm hoping to. This city is great, but the Big Apple is my home"

"Bah! Gotham is better" the librarian said with a smile.

Peter turned and walked towards the shelves that he now knew very well, the ones with dedicated scientific publications, the ones you don't see on the shelves of shopping malls. There was plenty of strange material within those papers; and there was a lot on Zeta-Beams.

He picked up a few journals and went to the nearest table, sitting in a corner. Peter thumbed through the pages until he found the articles on Zeta-Beams. He already knew of some of the information; that extreme weather could affect their performance, or that two machines, one for the point of departure, and the other for destination, were needed for the Zeta-Beam to work. This was probably why Zeta-Beam technology wasn't so wide spread; that and perhaps the cost. There was however, an article by a Dr. Nareed Rostam about ways in which Zeta-Beam technology could be improved. Peter took note of Dr. Rostam.

Peter was reading the fifth journal when he finally noticed the shadow standing over him. The kid from New York turned and looked up. He didn't know what he had expected before, but what he saw certainly left him amazed.

Standing above him was the prettiest girl Peter had ever seen. She was prettier than Betty, than Liz and Sally too. He was pretty sure that she was prettier than that Watson girl his aunt always tried to foist on him (of course, for all he knew, the wicked witch of the west could look better than the Watson girl he had never seen before). The girl standing before him was tall and clearly athletic. She was about his age, with long raven black hair and bright blue eyes.

Trying to keep his jaw from dropping was, for Peter, harder than ignoring the spider-sense during one of the Hulk's rampages.

She held a big notebook tightly against her chest and bent down towards him. Peter's heart began to beat quickly. She smiled with some timidity.

"I'm really sorry to bother you, but could you please tell me where I can find books on advanced science?" she asked, her voice sounding to Peter, like an angel's harp.

After a moment, Peter said, "You're in luck miss, this is the place. The science journals are over there, and the big monographs are over there" he pointed out each one.

"Thank you! I was losing myself in this place. It's so big" she said with an embarrassed chuckle.

"The same thing happened to me when I first got here. It took me a day to find this section."

She placed her hand on his shoulder. She had a strong grip. As far as Peter was concerned, she could squeeze as hard as she liked. Instead, she spoke.

"Then I'm glad I met you. I was about to wander around as well until I gathered the courage to speak to someone."

"I wish I had that courage" Peter admitted. Talking to a girl like this took a lot of it.

"I'm sure you do" she said, releasing her hand, and walking away towards the monographs.

Peter knew that he was never going to see this girl again.

"So, are you studying to be a scientist?" he asked, hoping to spend just a few more seconds with her. A second later, he recognized that that might be a bit creepy, but it wasn't like he was going to stalk her, or steal her panties, or eat her goldfish.

"I'm not so smart, I'm afraid. I'm studying law" that didn't diminish her in Peter's eyes "but some cases require scientific knowledge. So I'm here doing my homework on a case that requires scientific knowledge."

"Is it a superhero case?" Peter asked

"It involves superheroes" the girl said. She pulled out a monograph on spontaneous mutations. Much to Peter's delight, she sat a short distance away from him and opened the publication.

She then looked up at Peter.

"Do you know anything about superheroes?"

Now this was Peter's chance to shine. He could tell her he knew everything one had to know, for he was himself, a superhero. Then, common sense struck him.

"Not much, I'm afraid to say"

"That's a shame. I thought you were when I saw that journal in your hand" she said, pointing at it.

Peter turned the cover. She must have good eyes, because the letters were normal, and not big and bold. This was, after all a periodical not available to the supermarket crowd. But it did read: THE EFFECTS OF SUPERHEROICS ON THE HUMAN BODY.

"I'm more interested in the articles about Zeta-Beam technology" Peter said.

"Is there somewhere far away you want to go?" the girl asked with a devilish smile.

_If you were my girlfriend, I'd probably stay here._

"Yes" Peter said with a sigh "There is somewhere far away that I'd like to go to"

"Oh, you want to check out the green girls of Mars" she said in a playful tone.

"No" Peter couldn't help but snicker. Why would he go to Mars for girls, when there was one right here? Of course, this girl was not his. "I want to go somewhere else. Someplace that is secret"

"Oh, you boys and your secrets" the girl said with a smile.

"You have yours. We have ours" Peter replied.

And of course, the universe would have to put a stop to this pleasant banter because it took great pleasure ruining Peter's day. It did so in the form of a young man walking into the area with something that looked like an ipad.

Of course, he was using it to watch TV, despite the library's regulations. Peter scowled at the man.

"Mister, do you know that this is a library?" he said.

The guy looked away from his ipad thing.

"Get lost" he said rudely.

Suddenly, a notebook was slammed into the man's face, making a loud bang. He fell down with a thud, his nose broken. His hands went to his face as he whined and groaned. He was saying something, but the words were intelligible.

Peter looked at the girl with astonishment. She held the now bloody notebook in her hand.

"That was something!" Peter blurted out.

The girl's expression changed to one that was more appropriate, given the situation.

"I didn't think this through. We have to get out of here Peter" she said, looking about.

"I can't" Peter said "people know me here. I can't run. Listen, I'll take the blame for this"

The girl shook her head.

"What about this meathead?" she said, pointing at the man who was on the floor, holding his nose and looking at the two in bewilderment as blood flowed down.

Peter knelt down next to the guy.

"I'm really sorry that you got your nose broken, but I think you'd better not blame this lovely girl here" he looked at the girl "or she'll break your nose again"

The girl slammed her fist against her open palm to give emphasis.

The guy nodded.

"I hope we see each other again" the girl said, before disappearing.

Peter saw the librarian walking between the bookshelves and he called her. She was shocked to see the man on the floor.

"Harvey Terrence?" she turned to Peter "What happened?"

"Well, Mr. Terrence here was listening to that" he pointed at the ipad, which was still on "And I asked him to turn it off, so he told me to get lost. Unfortunately, I threw a book at him and it broke his nose. Don't worry, the book is fine" Peter said.

The librarian then looked at Harvey Terrence.

"Didn't I tell you? You can't bring those things in here. Be thankful it was Mr. Parker here who had an issue with your rule breaking and not Ms. Gordon. You would have ended up a lot worse." She helped Terrence back on his feet and scooted him away.

She then picked up the ipad. Some droll commercial was on, and then G. Gordon Godfrey's face appeared.

"_Don't miss it. I'll be in Gotham next week for a special episode of the G. Gordon Godfrey Show_" he said, before disappearing.

"Good grief! Gigi is going to be here?" Peter exclaimed.

"Who?" the librarian asked.

"Ja… Godfrey" Peter said, quickly correcting himself before slipping.

"Oh, I get it" the librarian said "anyway, he's already here. This is an old promo from about a week ago"

Peter groaned.

"He's just like this guy I used to know" Peter explained.

"You met my ex-husband too? Wow, what a small world" the librarian smiled as Peter shot her a questioning look "You better get out of here Parker. I'll deal with this. Go along, shoo, shoo" she said waving her hands at Peter.

"I can come back tomorrow?" Peter asked.

"You're welcome any time" she replied.

Peter quickly made his way out of the Library. He was at the steps that lead to its door, looking around to see if the girl was there. She wasn't which was just how his luck rolled. He regretted not asking her name.

He made his way down the stairs. It was about time he returned home. And then he stopped.

_Wait, did she call me Peter?_

For a few moments, Peter just stood there, wondering if she had or hadn't called him by his name, and if she had, if he had given it to her. He soon decided that he was just making things up in his head. Pretty girls had that affect on some guys.

* * *

Peter managed to find an excuse to go to bed early despite Bette's protests. As soon as the door was locked and the pillows carefully placed, Spider-Man came out of the window. As he swung along the tall buildings of Gotham, he felt refreshed.

During this entire day, apart from the brief respite when he met the mystery girl (who he hoped to see again), he had been worried about his future. He had been worried about finding a way home, worried about his Aunt May, worried about finding someone to help him find a way home, worried about carrying on a life in this universe with its own pantheon of heroes, so different from the ones he was familiar with.

At night, when he was Spider-Man, the complex concerns tended to vanish, being replaced by simpler, easier concerns. He was concerned about not slamming his body against an unfamiliar wall, concerned about not being spotted, and concerned about three thugs trying to break into a shop as it was closed for the night. Spider-Man clung to the wall and studied the three thugs carefully.

There was no doubt of what they were doing. And the shop in question was a jewelry store. Not very original. Spider-Man shot a web, and he swung right on to the three men, who were all felled by the impact.

"Geez guys, it's only me. There's no need to fall down on your faces like this."

The crooks got up quickly and faced the wall-crawler; these guys were brave – or stupid. If they had known him, Spider-Man would have no doubts about their stupidity. One took out a knife.

"I can't believe you pulled out a knife. Mister, I am disappointed in you. That is the hallmark of a thug and a hoodlum" Spider-Man said, swatting the knife with his fingers, breaking the blade away from the hilt. The thug looked at the now bladeless knife in his hand aghast "You could hurt me with that. It has a sharp edge in case you didn't know it. You could actually give me a small cut, or worse, cut my outfit, and I worked hard to make it"

One burglar grabbed Spider-Man from behind. The web-slinger easily broke from his grasp by simply moving his arms. He moved his head backwards, hitting the thief on the nose and knocking him down.

"I'm not that type of guy. Give me waffles first" Spider-Man said, as the man mumbled on the ground.

The third thief pulled out a gun, his hand shaking. Spider-Man snagged it with his web and pulled it into his hand.

"Is this a Smith and Wesson? No it's not. Looks like a Magnum. I don't know guns that well. I bet it's just the best" he said as he crushed it in his hands. The thief's eyes widened. Before he could run, Spider-Man moved quickly, and knocked him out with a haymaker. The wall-crawler turned in time to see the first thug, the one with the knife, try to make an escape. All Spider-Man did was aim, and he quickly webbed up the thugs feet. The man fell down on his face.

"Don't leave now, I haven't finished yet" the arachnid said pulling the man towards him. He webbed the thieves all up and let them lie against the wall.

Spider-Man looked them over and nodded.

"You look nice" to the bewilderment of the thieves, Spider-Man took out a camera and took a picture "I haven't used this in a while now. Hope you guys don't mind it. Anyway, stay there and you'll be fine"

The first thug struggled against the web he was in. he gave up, and as Spider-Man was about to leave, he yelled out.

"Wait!"

Spider-Man approached.

"Wait for what? For you to pass out? To throw a fit? To make waffles? I don't need to wait for that. I'm not going to wait for that. I have better things to do."

"Please let me out"

"What? I can't believe you actually asked me that. No, that's stupid. Do you know how much this web costs me to make, and you want me to waste it? No way. As I said, I have better things to do" Spider-Man was about to leap into the air, when the thug yelled out again.

"The Penguin is expecting a shipment of these new drugs which he's gonna sell in his club. The deal is happening right now. Near the wharf." The thug excitedly said.

"Are there any sea leopards in this deal?" Spider-Man asked.

"No. Just Killer Croc, and whoever is selling" the thug said.

"Well, that means I'm going to have to deal with it" Spider-Man said. He shot out a web as he jumped into the air. The thug yelled at him to wait, but Spider-Man wasn't going to listen.

The thief's information was, nonetheless, good. As Spider-Man swung towards the wharf, he noticed a large number of black sedans and vans, and coming out of them men wearing trench coats or dull clothing. If criminals ever wore uniforms, trench coats would be an important element.

Another group of men were closer to the boats. They too were nondescript, and stood closer to a shipping container.

Spider-Man's attention was drawn to a short, rotund man who seemed to waddle like a duck. Within his hand, the man carried an umbrella, despite there being no cloud in the night sky. He had heard of him through newspapers. The Penguin was his name, and he owned a popular nightclub, the Iceberg Lounge. Spider-Man couldn't help but shake his head. Criminals always had to turn to crime even when they have successful legal venues. It must be genetic or something. Like a criminal retro-virus manipulating a gene that commands crooks to be stupid.

Standing next to the Penguin was a large man with green skin. Upon closer examination, it was apparent that the man's skin was covered in scales and that he had a bestial appearance.

The guy looked like he could be the Killer Croc that the thief had told him about. The web-slinger was reminded of the Lizard. If the Lizard had no tail and a more human looking face.

Now his eyes turned to the other side of the deal. Whoever was in charge was not noticeable, although there was a blond woman wearing a business suit standing close by, discreetly, but visible.

Lightly landing on a nearby crane, the wall-crawler tried to listen in on the conversation.

"It's good to see you and yours Mr. Cobblepot" the leader of the group closest to the shipping container said, advancing towards the Penguin, and extending his hand. Mr. Cobblepot looked at the hand, and didn't take it.

"Let's eschew the pleasantries. I would like to leave here as soon as possible. I don't want to see the Bat or any of his sidekicks, not with Godfrey in the Lounge tonight."

"You shouldn't be worried" the man said, and it felt like he was smirking as he said this "According to our intel, Batman is quite occupied with the last remaining members of Jokers gang, and with those juvenile vigilantes that keep appearing. What was one of them called? Warpath? I saw that guy on the news. He completely shredded a bus into ribbons while stopping a mugger. That was funny."

"Mr. Morris, you do not know the Bat as well as I do, so let's hurry."

The men next to the container began to extract several crates. One of them was placed in front of the Penguin. The man called Killer Croc ripped open the crate with his bare hand. Penguin looked at its interior. He pulled out a transparent canister with a glowing green goo in it.

"I'm curious Mr. Morris, what does your employer call this substance?" the Penguin asked as he looked closely at the canister.

"Metaplex"

"Metaplex?" the Penguin said, his disbelief palpable "How very clever of him. Of course he was subdued. He tends to make his name more obvious"

"It's a placeholder name, until a better one can be chosen" Morris replied.

"And does this stuff really work?"

"On some it will. On others, it won't, but that won't matter, I think" Morris said.

"Well, I'll see to it that it's distributed throughout the city. We can't lag behind Star City after all. That city's superhero thinks he's Errol Flynn" the Penguin said with a chuckle "Okay boys, start hauling these crates."

The Penguin's goons began to move towards the shipping container. And that was when Spider-Man made his move. He had no idea what that green goo was, but the manner in which the Penguin and Morris spoke implied nothing good.

He leapt from his perch on the crane, and landed right between the Penguin's men, and Morris' men. The Penguin's men stopped their advance, while Morris and his people looked at the wall-crawler in surprise.

"Who is that?" Morris asked his façade of coolness broken.

"I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. I was hoping you guys would know" Spider-Man said, looking this way and that.

"He's one of those costumed kids that have been littering this city. Ox, get rid of the dolt" and as soon as the Penguin said that, a large man walked out of the crowd behind the Penguin.

"Ox huh? You wouldn't know a cowboy and Fancy Dan would you?" Spider-Man asked as the big guy lunged at him. The web-slinger stepped aside and picked him up with one hand, easily lifting him over his head. "I guess not"

Spider-Man tossed the man aside and cocooned him in a bouncy web with one movement of his arm.

"He's going to have to take a rest. What about you guys? Are you up for a game of hard ball?" Spider-Man said, again, looking this way and that.

The Penguin gritted his teeth.

"You clearly have the strength of twenty men" the criminal said "but I have with me more than just twenty men. Boys get him!"

And with that, the Penguin's men, armed with sticks, knives, crowbars and tire-irons charged all at once at the red and blue teenage superhero. The web-slinger however, did not move. He stood still as the men ganged up on him.

Suddenly, all of the criminals that had ganged up on Spider-Man were hurled about as if caught in a whirlwind.

"I don't really have the strength of twenty men. I have the proportionate strength of a spider, and you can't even begin to imagine how strong that is" Spider-Man said, smiling beneath his mask.

The Penguin turned to the big green guy by his side.

"Croc! Get rid of that pest" he said.

Killer Croc smiled. He sprinted towards Spider-Man, who quickly stepped away.

"You're Killer Croc right? Why are you called Killer Croc?" Spider-Man asked. Croc tried to jab him, but the web-slinger ducked "I mean, crocodiles aren't the only reptiles out there. You could have called yourself the lizard" again, Killer Croc tried to grab him, and Spider-Man somersaulted over him. Croc tried to give Spider-Man a backhand blow, but the arachnid jumped over his head "but that's not what you really are either. I've read about you; they say you're an atavus, a callback to our primitive reptilian ancestors. There's a problem with this" and again, Croc charged as the Penguin looked on in frustration. Spider-Man stepped to the side.

"It's now known" Spider-man said, continuing "that the creatures from which mammals descend can't really be considered reptiles, you know, like lizards and snakes, and of course, crocs" Killer Croc tried to give Spider-Man a backfist, but he missed.

Spider-Man jumped over Killer Croc and landed behind him.

"They're called Synapsids you know. Dimetrodon was one of them. That would be a nice name. Or Gorgonops. That would be a great name. You could say 'I am the Gorgonops' as you charge your foes." Killer Croc swiped his arm at Spider-Man. Again, Spider-Man ducked.

In one quick movement, Spider-Man punched Croc in the face. He wasn't Dr. Connors, so there was little holding back. Killer Croc fell down on his back, senseless.

"Why do I even bother? You're too stupid to figure it out anyway" Spider-Man said to the fallen form. And then his spider-sense had him moving quickly. From both sides, he was being shot at. He saw that the blond woman's arms were split open, revealing gun barrels from which lead was being spewed out at an amazing speed. On the other side he saw the Penguin, aiming his umbrella at him. It too, apparently, was a gun.

Everyone had to be a gun nut.

Spider-Man leapt upwards. He swung his arm, and the woman was hit by a web that hurled her some distance backwards. He landed right in front of the Penguin. He grabbed the umbrella, and crushed it with his hand. He then bent it as if it were paper.

"You know, you don't really have to call yourself Penguin" Spider-Man lifted the Penguin up, tossed him in the air, and webbed him, leaving him dangling from a nearby crane. "You should think about calling yourself, 'the Puffin'. The name just oozes terror."

Spider-Man turned to face Morris, the blond woman with robotic machine gun arm and his people. However, the web-slinger noticed a glowing green figure emerging from the ground behind them, phasing like a ghost, as it would seem.

He touched each and every one of them, and they fell down, his touch being apparently electric. Morris was the last to go down, turning just in time to see his attacker push his palm against his face.

The wall-crawler looked at the strange figure. He couldn't quite read him very well. His spider-sense was scratching at him, but in a way that seemed to indicate that this new guy wasn't an immediate threat.

He was no older than thirteen. He was dressed in a costume similar to a Halloween ghost costume. His head however was exposed, perhaps because of the spiked up hair that moved around independently. He didn't seem to be wearing a mask; rather he had strange green markings on his face that seemed to hide his features equally well. The kid would, nonetheless, be careful around cameras.

The boy waved.

"High" he said, and he couldn't have sounded dorkier "I'm sorry to cut in, but I was flying around and I saw you fighting these guys. I thought that I could help you out here. I mean, you were amazing."

"Its part of who I am" Spider-Man replied "Have you been here for a while or are you new? I'm sorry if I don't know who you are, but, I'm kind of out of the loop here."

The boy held up his hands.

"No sweat dude! I'm actually new. In fact, I'm not from Gotham – I'm from Star City. I came here from over there because of the meeting" the boy said.

"What meeting is that? I don't think its Halloween yet" Spider-Man inquired.

The green boy looked at him as if he had been living in a cave.

"Don't you know?" the boy asked.

"I know a few things; I just don't know what you're talking about" Spider-Man admitted.

"It was all over twitter and facebook! Anyway, a group of superpowered teens have organized a meeting here in Gotham, so that we can form a group like the one the Justice League has, but better" the boy said with enthusiasm.

Spider-Man couldn't help but feel queasy about this.

"Are any of you guys experienced in this sort of thing? It's tougher than it looks."

"I've been in a few scuffles" the boy revealed "but I think the others are much more experienced. There's Hot Stuff from Portland, and Behemoth from Seattle – those guys know what they are doing. I've seen their videos"

Spider-Man didn't know how to respond to this.

"We better restrain these guys" Spider-Man said.

"Oh yeah, sure. Do you have any rope?"

Spider-Man pointed at his wrists, "I have my webs"

The wall-crawler than began to quickly web the thugs that hadn't been webbed before, during the course of the fight. Killer Croc, who was still knocked out, recieved an extra dose of webbing. As he was webbing up the perps, he noticed something amiss.

The blond woman was missing. He looked around. There was no sign of her; his spider-sense certainly wasn't tingling, so she wasn't nearby.

"Hey, green guy!" Spider-Man called out.

The green boy, who was looking at his feet, suddenly stood straight, as if his father had just called his attention.

"My name is Green Ghost Boy" the kid said. Spider-Man blinked. That was about the corniest name he had heard so far. Paste-pot-Pete was worse, but that was on a completely different level. Besides he was one of Johnny's enemies; what would you expect?

"I'm Spider-Man. Anyway, you said you can fly?" he asked.

"Oh yes" the boy said readily "I flew all the way here from Star city"

"That's good. I need you to do a quick fly by around here; see if there are any ladies with guns for arms running about. Can you do that?" Spider-Man asked.

The boy's face lit up.

"You bet I can do that" and he ascended towards the sky. He left a green trail, and Spider-Man followed it as Green Ghost Boy circled the area. In a few seconds, the boy came back down, shaking his head.

"I don't see her" he said. That wasn't surprising; if his spider-sense wasn't picking her up, than she wasn't here.

Spider-Man now focused his attention on the crates, more specifically, on the one that had already been opened by Killer Croc. He looked in and found several transparent canisters of glowing green goo. He took out one and looked at it.

Green Ghost Boy's eyes widened with recognition. The web-slinger noticed.

"You know what this is?" he asked.

The boy didn't answer at first. He just scratched his arm for a while. Spider-Man's brain buzzed, but it wasn't serious. Finally, Green Ghost Boy opened his mouth.

"That's Metaplex" he said, softly and bashfully, as a child that had to admit he had broken the cookie jar.

"I know that much. I heard them calling it that. But what does it do? Does it make you feel happy? Does it make you fall in love? Or is it just addictive trash?" Spider-Man asked.

"It gives normal people superpowers" Green Ghost Boy said.

Spider-Man looked at the can.

"I guess people would buy this for a lot of money. Are they selling this in Star city?" Spider-Man asked, remembering the conversation between Morris and the Penguin.

"Yeah. I've seen a few" Green Ghost Boy said.

"Well, we better turn this over to the cops" Spider-Man turned his back and he called the police, telling them about the Penguin and a mysterious green goo. When he returned to check on the Green Ghost Boy, he saw the kid leaning over the open crate and looking at it.

"I know that the canisters are pretty to look at, but that stuff's dangerous" Spider-Man said. The boy was startled and nearly phased into the ground. He calmed down and was standing on terra firma.

"You're right, this stuff is dangerous" he said "So, are you going to the meeting?" the boy said, almost as if he was trying to change the subject.

Spider-Man thought about the meeting. He might as well check it out.

"Show me the way" he said.

* * *

Spider-Man wasn't surprised to find that the meeting place was in a bad part of town, in a building that was so dilapidated that it had to have been abandoned. The cracks along the walls were large and the windows were mostly gone; the lonely man sitting on the stairs who looked old was mumbling at no one. Spider-Man and Green Ghost Boy entered the part of the building that in better days had been a garage. They entered freely, as one enters a public library. As soon as they were there, they saw themselves surrounded by a collection of freaks and weirdoes. Some seemed to be normal kids on steroids, others were in what looked like poor imitation Iron-Man armors, and he couldn't figure out what the other costumed kids had going for them.

The web-slinger had no idea what that made him. Suddenly, a very large and muscular teenager stepped in front of Spider-Man and Green Ghost Boy. He was dressed like a barbarian, and had a lion's head serving as his mask.

Before Spider-Man could answer, Green Ghost Boy made the introductions.

"Hi! I'm Green Ghost Boy, and this is Spider-Man" he said with enthusiasm.

"I've never heard of you. What have you done? Do you have any videos?"

"I have absolutely no videos" Spider-Man replied "I used to have photos, but those were lost on my way here"

"He beat up Killer Croc!" Green Ghost Boy enthusiastically said "he knocked him out with one punch!"

The big teenager looked at Spider-Man. He then let out a chuckle.

"Big deal. I could knock that guy out with my finger" he boasted, raising his finger, which, incidentally, had a curious smell to it.

Spider-Man raised his hands in mock defeat.

"Please, we should calm down. We're all fighting on the same side aren't we? Besides, it's pretty obvious that this big guy here can easily defeat me. By the way, what's your name?"

"I'm Chimeric"

"I can see that you truly are" Spider-Man said. He extended his hand "It's an honor to meet you"

The big teenager looked at Spider-Man's hand. He smiled wickedly and he closed his own around it. His hands were bigger than Spider-Man's; the web-slinger's hands practically disappeared.

He tried squeezing tight around Spider-Man's hand, hoping to make him cry out in pain. But Spider-Man's hand remained rigid, like stone. And then, Spider-Man squeezed his hand. Chimeric soon began to feel the pain.

It didn't take long for the big teenager to wail out, and then scream, in pain. Everyone there stopped to look. Spider-Man then released the big teenager's hand.

"You have quite a grip there. I almost thought that I'd lose my hand" Spider-Man said to the teenager, who was bent down, clutching his hand in pain. Chimeric looked up at him in anger and fear.

"Who are you?" asked a youth in a getup that would have made the Disco Dazzler shaking her head. It was like someone had taken a disco dancer's white outfit, and painted flames on it.

Before Spider-Man could answer, someone else did.

"His name is Spider-Man, and he's been around for a few days"

The voice belonged to a woman. Spider-Man turned to see who spoke, and he saw emerging from the shadows a tall, athletic woman with raven black hair and intense blue eyes. She wore a domino mask that extended over her face, making it appear as if she were wearing batwings over her eyes. Her costume covered her entire body; it was mostly black, but there was a white cross on her chest that extended to her belt, which was very similar to Batman's belt. Her cape, gauntlets, belt, boots and knee pads were dark purple. She seemed to have a gun hanging in a holster over her right hip.

She walked towards Spider-Man, and looked him in the eye.

"Hi. I call myself the Huntress. I've read everything about you" she said.

"I'm shocked. I didn't know anyone cared" Spider-Man replied. He was also puzzled. So far, he hadn't read anything about himself on the newspapers. There were a few references, but they were vague.

Now the guy with the flames on the disco suit approached.

"Well, we saw that this Spider-guy is pretty strong. What can you do?" he asked the Huntress.

Slowly, she turned away from Spider-Man, and looked at the disco guy. The expression on her face was fierce.

"I can kick your ass for starters" she said.

The disco guy laughed.

"I don't think so" he said.

A small baton appeared in Huntress' hand. It suddenly extended itself into a staff, with which Huntress whacked the disco guy across the face. He fell down on the ground, his mouth glowing. He looked up at Huntress, and flames could be seen coming out of his mouth.

Spider-Man's spider-sense began acting up.

Then, there was a yell. An even larger man than Chimeric emerged, with green tubes running into his bare arms. He had on his head an old Great Helm while he wore dark leather biker clothes.

"Stop with that nonsense right now Hot Shot! We have better things to do!" he yelled. The disco guy got up and he glared at Huntress. He then walked towards the large vigilante.

"That's Behemoth" Huntress whispered into Spider-Man's ear "and those tubes have venom in them"

"He's a big guy. I don't think he needs poison" Spider-Man replied

"Venom is a drug that gives whoever consumes it increased strength. It also gives you madness. It's what Bane uses" she explained.

That name didn't register to Spider-Man as it did to Green Ghost Boy who made a strange face. To Spider-Man, Bane was just a name in the papers. He did notice that quite a few more kids in the garage had green tubes in their arms, and were unnaturally buffed up. Spider-Man took another look at Chimeric. Hidden within the teenager's costume were a few green tubes.

Behemoth hopped on top of the abandoned rusted carcass of what used to be a car, standing above everyone else. Although his spider-sense wasn't alerting him to any immediate danger, he still got chills from the imagery.

"His real name is William Ghent. Until a few weeks ago, he was a scrawny seventeen year old wearing glasses who happened to be a science major" Huntress said.

Spider-Man grimaced beneath his mask.

"You don't say? I may know a guy who was like that" he said, looking at Behemoth as he began his big speech.

"My good friends and my equals" Behemoth said with grandiloquence "We are all gathered here because we all have a few things in common. We want to change the world for the better, and we have the power to do so. The superheroes we have now certainly don't do anything. Superman and the Flash, for all their powers still let dangerous slime on the loose to hurt innocent people whenever they want. They're junior sidekicks are no better. They're indoctrinated little slaves that dress up just like their masters. But we can do something that they can't. We can stop evil at its root."

Spider-Man did not like at all where this speech was headed. He would have probably agreed not to long ago, but too much had passed since then.

"Are you suggesting we be proactive? I certainly hope not because that would be incredibly stupid" Spider-Man said, speaking up.

"It would be stupid not to be proactive." Behemoth said "Are you saying we should allow a mugger to hurt an old lady?"

"Of course not, but I don't think that's what you mean. I'm pretty sure you mean to attack people just for looking at you in a funny way. That's stupid. You can't attack people for not committing any crimes, even if they're thinking about it" Spider-Man said. He looked around. Everyone was looking at him. He continued, "I learned a lesson, some time ago, that with great power **must** come great responsibility. That is especially true for those who have powers beyond mortal men. If we become proactive, as you suggest, it won't take long for us to become the new monsters. What are you? Some puny kid who never had any friends and who got beefed up and decided to have is vengeance on the world? Well, I can tell you, it won't end well."

Spider-Man's body tensed and hardened. His spider-sense was beginning to alert him that he was in a nasty situation.

"It was an okay speech" Huntress said, holding her staff in her hand.

"Okay? I was just warming up" Spider-Man replied.

"Will someone get rid of these dorks?" Behemoth said in a childish tone.

One of the buffed up venom freaks tried to punch Spider-Man in the face. The wall-crawler easily ducked and returned with a powerful jab that left his opponent on the floor. An armored fellow tried to attack as well. Huntress pulled out her gun, which quickly revealed itself to be a crossbow. She pulled the trigger, and a bolt hit the armored goon in the middle of the chest plate. The bolt didn't bounce off. It stuck on the metal and it soon flashed with blue light. The armored wannabee fell down on his face, unable to lift a finger.

Spider-Man raised an eyebrow at the sight of a crossbow, but exotic weaponry wasn't the most bizarre thing he had seen so far.

Other buffed up maniacs tried to attack them. Huntress demonstrated great skill in martial arts, kicking and punching with precise strikes, slicing venom tubes wherever they existed. Spider-Man was impressed, even as he lifted an 800 hundred pound gorilla of a man above his head and hurled him at his attackers. His spider-sense and his agility kept him from receiving any blows, while giving even stronger ones to his attackers. Green Ghost Boy did his best, phasing into the floor and coming up to shock the enraged teens with his touch, or flying up and dropping things on to their heads.

But the attacking teenage pretenders weren't only made up of venom addicts. There were few that had superpowers themselves. One seemed to be surrounded by an aura of electricity. He shot out a bolt with his bare hand at Spider-Man. The web-slinger barely dodged it, feeling the electricity in his skin. Spider-Man leapt on to the ceiling. He quickly crawled towards him.

"You look electric. Would you be called Electro, by chance? Because for me, it would be great if you were called Electro. I always know how to handle a guy called Electro" Spider-Man lunged at the electric teen, and before his feet reached the ground, he punched him, knocking him out.

By now, the number of the attacking teens had been drastically reduced. They were all on the floor, many having tubes torn or armors broken, dented or disabled. Spider-Man took note that Behemoth, Chimeric, and several others were not amongst the fallen. They weren't present either. The only ones there, aside from Huntress, Green Ghost Boy, and himself, was the guy called Hot Shot and two other youths pumped up on venom who stood by his side.

So far, Hot Shot hadn't done much of anything. He had stayed away from the fight, hugging the wall of the garage as if accosted by a torrent of lava. But now he stood in front of Spider-Man and his companions, his mouth ablaze.

"I… I'm going to burn you all!" he said and he let out a jet of incredibly hot fire from his mouth. Huntress was quick. She positioned her staff and a shield of transparent material came out of the end of it, protecting them from the blaze.

"I know a guy like this" Spider-Man said.

"Shouldn't that be my line?" Huntress asked in a playful tone.

Spider-Man recalled Johnny's track record with girls.

"No it shouldn't be your line, ever" he flatly said.

Slowly, the trio moved forward. Spider-Man was going to jump over the blaze and punch Hot Shot in the face when the blaze suddenly stopped.

With amazement, Spider-Man saw Hot Shot and his two bodyguards on the floor. Standing over them were a couple that struck Spider-Man as being odd. A red haired girl dressed as Batman, and a young man dressed in black with a domino mask and a blue bird on his chest. Spider-Man knew that these youths didn't belong to the group of pumped up teenagers that he had been fighting with; he tried to remember what he had read. The girl could be Batgirl. He didn't know who the man was.

Spider-Man turned to look at Huntress.

"Nightwing and Batgirl" she said, more to herself than to Spider-Man. The wall-crawler recognized the name. Not only because Bette talked of him a lot, but because his name appeared on the news. He was Batman's former sidekick apparently. He hoped that Nightwing was more reasonable than his mentor; otherwise, he would regret it in the worse manner possible.

"In the flesh" Nightwing said with a smile.

Spider-Man's spider-sense kept the wall-crawler from speaking to the young vigilante. He was forced to look upwards. The building it seemed was on fire. It didn't seem that he had the equipment to stop the blaze.

"We better get out of here" Nightwing said, picking up Hot Shot.

"That's a good idea" Spider-Man said. He quickly grabbed the two bodyguards. They all rushed out through the main exit and into the street.

Spider-Man felt the cool air and liked it. He let go of the bodyguards and webbed them up. He then rushed inside to grab the others. In a matter of seconds, Spider-Man, Nightwing and Huntress had removed every one of the wannabee superheroes from the garage.

"Well, that's everyone!" Spider-man said.

It was as if he had been tempting fate. As he said that, a scream was heard from one of the open windows above the garage.

"I thought this place was abandoned!" Spider-Man exclaimed.

"In a sense it is. But buildings like these serve as shelters for drug addicts, a few of the more petty dealers, and the homeless" Nightwing said, matter-of-factly. "We have to get those people out. The firefighters won't get here in time"

"I can do this easily" Spider-Man said. He turned to Green Ghost Boy and said, "Let's go and get those people out"

The boy just stood there. Spider-Man didn't know if the boy was afraid or not. He just stood there, expressionless.

"Do we really have to?" he asked "They're all drug addicts and dealers"

Spider-Man really wished he hadn't heard that.

"Even so, we still have to save them. We're the only two here who have any superpowers; we're the best for this job. We have the power to help. That's what being a superhero is all about, not about getting into fights, but helping those who can't help themselves. And what about the homeless people inside? What did they do besides live in misery? Tell me Green; before you got your powers, what superhero did you admire the most?" Spider-Man asked the boy with the green glow.

Green Ghost Boy looked at Spider-Man sheepishly.

"Superman" he said. Spider-Man was stunned; he expected to hear the name of Captain America, but then he remembered where he was.

"Would Superman let those people die?" Spider-Man asked

"No" Green Ghost Boy said.

"Let's go then" Spider-Man said. He leapt into the first window, and saw a skinny woman holding a child. They were startled, but before they could say anything, he grabbed them and leapt out of the building.

And thus the rescue proceeded. With the aid of Nightwing, Batgirl and Huntress, Spider-Man and Green Ghost Boy entered each apartment and extracted whoever they found. Most of the people were happy to be rescued, although one drug dealer pulled a gun on Spider-Man. Of course the wall-crawler dealt with him rather quickly, and hauled him out of the building, now engulfed in flames.

Spider-Man released the dealer once they were on the sidewalk. The horns of the fire trucks could now be heard approaching. Green Ghost Boy came flying out one building, holding a malnourished child in his arms. Only then did Peter notice that his glow was fainter.

The green boy landed on the street, and he let the child go. He was breathing heavily. Spider-Man began to regret telling him to act if this was what it would do to him. A superhero helped others, that was true, but that didn't meant that other superheroes were expendable.

"Are you alright?" the web-slinger asked with concern.

"I'm fine" Green Ghost Boy said with a smile, despite appearing to be weaker than before "I feel fine. So this is what it's like to be a hero"

"Sometimes it's good" Spider-Man agreed. He then noticed Batgirl and Nightwing talking to Hot Shot. The other teenagers were sitting on the ground, their hands bound behind their backs. Huntress was nearby. She soon rushed towards Spider-Man.

"What's happening?" he asked her.

"Behemoth and a few of his pals are heading for the Iceberg Lounge. They're going to attack G. Gordon Godfrey"

Beneath his lenses, Spider-Man's eyes widened. He got the same feeling he always had whenever he had to help out J. Jonah Jameson. He leapt up into the air and shot out a web. He could hear Huntress calling out for him, but he ignored her. Time was short.

Spider-Man had only been in Gotham for just a few days, but in those few days, he had learned some of the city's most notorious locations. One of which was the Iceberg Lounge, owned by the bird he had beaten earlier this night.

It didn't take Spider-Man much time to find the way there. He then felt a slight buzzing in the back of his head. He turned and saw Green Ghost Boy flying behind him. His glow was getting weaker.

"I hope you don't mind me joining you" the kid said.

"I should mind it. You look like you need a rest" Spider-Man remarked.

"I can do this" Green Ghost Boy said "Please."

"Fine, but don't get into the thick of it. That's my job"

* * *

Commissioner James Gordon shifted in his seat. Anyone who cared could see that he was uneasy. His unease was caused by several things, the first being that he was sitting within the Iceberg Lounge which was property of the notorious Penguin (who was strangely absent). The second cause for his unease was the fact that he was sitting inches away from G. Gordon Godfrey, a man for whom he had little respect. He spoke in colorful metaphors in order to convince idiots into thinking that those who had saved their lives constant times and at their own expense were their enemies.

Previously, Godfrey had been hostile to aliens only. As of recently, his hostility had been focused on all superheroes, even those who had no powers, like Batman. Because of this, Commissioner Gordon felt that he had to be here to defend those who had helped the world countless times. Sometimes, Gordon wondered if Godfrey was in league with something evil. Of course, that was foolish. Idiots would always exist.

Ever the observant police officer, Gordon looked around. The Iceberg Lounge had been prepared for this; it now looked more like a television studio then a night club. There were still tables about, but those were closer to the stage, where he was. Towards the back there were the normal theater seats, where most of the people were seated. The best places seemed to be on the balconies, where the wealthiest people sat. Cameras were strategically placed everywhere to capture every nuance.

Security was heavy; in addition to the police – who were there because of Gordon – the place was being guarded by private guards. Gordon wondered who had hired them – Godfrey, or the Penguin.

He looked at Godfrey's smirk.

"Commissioner Gordon, it's an honor to have you here. You are a man of integrity. But please tell me, why does a man of such staunch values as yourself gladly allies himself with a masked vigilante who works beyond the law?"

Gordon looked at Godfrey gravely. He knew that the man would start with this. At least Godfrey didn't disappoint.

"Although he wears a mask and is not employed by the city of Gotham, Batman has helped this city and the Gotham Police Department countless times. And he has, if you recall, helped the world during the last crisis involving the Reach. I can't ignore or condemn him for doing something good." Gordon replied. He hoped that the mention of the Reach would at least shake Godfrey – who had supported them in the beginning. Unfortunately, Gordon couldn't deny that Godfrey had later denounced them.

"Oh yes, he did help defeat the Reach, I do admit, your friend Batman, but I wonder, for what reason. I remember this man who I knew, as a lad, who would help people out not out of the goodness of his heart, but because he loved the gifts and attention that people gave him. I can't help but see Batman and all of his other masked friends in this light. Why else would he wear a mask but for to drape himself in a romantic aura?" Godfrey said with a smirk.

Gordon frowned. The man was projecting his own defects on to others. He was about to point this out when it happened.

There was an explosion and several muscle-bound men entered the Iceberg Lounge from the main entrance. Gordon was out of his chain in an instant. The attackers were all wearing masks of several sorts and personal armor; one wore a knight's Great Helm while another wore what seemed to be a lion's head. All in all, it seemed that they were twenty to twenty-five in number. Gordon thought that this was some joke on Godfrey's part.

He looked at the pundit, and realized that he was just as surprised as Gordon himself was. Godfrey was on his feet and Gordon noticed a rectangular block in his pocket. The corner was sticking out, and it was blue with a red on its edge. Godfrey's hand was close to it.

The attackers immediately engaged with the police detail and the private security guards. Buffed up as they were, the mysterious attackers had an edge. Both the police and the private security fired live rounds on them, but the armor protected them from the more serious wounds. Whatever bullets entered their limbs were ignored. Gordon noticed that all of the attackers had green tubes attached to their arms and legs.

The one with the lion's head for a mask lunged towards Godfrey. Commissioner Gordon was quick; he grabbed the chair he had been sitting on and he swung it at the large thug. It stunned the man and forced him back, but it didn't knock him down.

Shaking his head, the thug turned his ire from Godfrey to Gordon. He roared and knocked the chair out of the commissioner's hands with a swift and brutal backhand. With another backhand, he knocked Gordon down to the ground.

The blow was violent; Gordon saw the provisional stars as he opened his eyes and looked at the big guy towering over him. He could hear the gunshots and the screams. He wondered what was happening to the audience and if his men had evacuated them properly as the big thug raised his hands over him, ready to crush his skull. And then he saw the thug's hand enveloped in what looked like a web.

From high above, he saw a slight figure, clad in a spider-themed costume that was blue and red swinging towards the big thug, and then ramming him in the face with both of his feet.

"Why don't you try picking on someone my size for a change Chimeric?" the unknown figure said. Chimeric was on the floor, but he got up quickly and charged. The unknown hero looked small in comparison, but when the two clashed, it was clear who the stronger one was.

The man called Chimeric was felled with two hard punches. The mysterious hero then leapt towards the other thugs. His movements were quick and powerful; his arms moved with a blurring speed and everyone they touched fell down with a loud thud.

Gordon then noticed that the hero wasn't alone. There was also a girl there – a girl with long black hair and a long cape that reminded him for some reason of Batman. Her punches lacked the other's power, but they were skillful and hard nonetheless. Gordon noticed a third figure; this was a boy in his early teens who glowed faintly. He seemed to be the less capable of the trio; trying his best to avoid his large opponent's blows, while seemingly trying to touch him. Gordon saw a punch phase right through the boy. Once the large thug removed his fist in amazement, the boy just touched him, rendering him unconscious.

The boy however, was not safe, as another thug struck him from behind, smashing him into a wall. The boy was in pain and as the thug advanced towards him, reached into his costume, taking out a suspicious looking transparent canister with a green substance within. He placed one end of the canister on his arm, and Gordon saw the green substance disappear into the boy's arm. The boy's glow immediately intensified; as the thug picked him up, the boy swatted him away with the back of his hand.

For some reason, the boy seemed amazed.

"Sir, are you alright?"

Gordon turned and saw that it was the red and blue mystery man who had spoken to him.

"I'm fine. Who are you and what's going on?" Gordon asked.

"Juvenile monsters that's who they are" Godfrey said "Juvenile delinquents who probably made this mess in the first place…"

Godfrey was suddenly silenced when the spider-themed mystery man raised his hand and a web shot out of his wrist. The web covered Godfrey's mouth, shutting him up. Godfrey's face reddened in anger as he mumbled and tried to pull the web away from his mouth.

"You sound better already Gigi" the mystery man said. And then he turned to look at the glowing green boy. He then turned his head towards the canister on the floor. He looked at the boy again.

"Green Ghost Boy, are you alright?"

The boy shook his head. He looked not at all well. He elevated, hovering over everyone and phased out of the building.

* * *

Spider-Man rushed out of the building, passed the cops, the security guards and the reporters asking questions. He was soon racing across the city after Green Ghost Boy. Huntress followed him close by, riding on her bike.

"What's happening?" she asked.

"Something's wrong with Green Ghost Boy" Spider-Man said. And that was all that he could say. How could he tell the girl that his spider-sense went nuts and pointed Green Ghost Boy as the source of the greatest danger? Did she even know about the canister of Metaplex?

"Do you know anything about Metaplex?" he asked Huntress.

"I know a bit. It's supposed to be this new drug that gives some kids superpowers" Huntress was silent for a moment "Do you mean that Green Ghost Boy is taking that stuff?"

"I saw a canister of it back in the lounge. He must have got it in the wharf where we met. I hope he's okay"

Spider-Man however, was stopped in his tracks when he saw Green Ghost Boy. They had followed him into a park, where they found him. His body was glowing brighter than it had before. What was disturbing were the changes occurring to his body. Green Ghost Boy's body was stretching out. His hands and legs were swelling, and his face was extending forwards. His eyes began to bulge out, and his hair, which had been moving about of its own accord, now began to look like tendrils that ended in spheres.

Soon, the boy began to grow, ripping apart his clothes and losing his human appearance. In a matter of seconds he was over forty feet tall and thirty feet long; his body was similar to that of a Gorgonopsid while his head was similar to that of a slow Loris. The tendrils on his head formed a strange form of mane that moved about like reeds in the wind – the spheres on the ends seemed truly hard and unbreakable.

The creature Green Ghost Boy had become opened its mouth and wailed. It was the most horrible sound Spider-Man had ever heard in his life. It stomped its paws and tail on the ground, shaking it. Spider-Man barely stayed on his feet while Huntress nearly fell down.

"How do we stop that thing?" Huntress asked.

"That's Green Ghost Boy" Spider-Man corrected, remembering Dr. Connors "And there has to be a way to help him"

The creature suddenly moved, and it walked away from the park, and into the city.

"We can't let him hurt anyone!" Huntress said.

"I won't" Spider-Man said, leaping as high as he could. He landed on the creature's side. Soon afterwards, a grappling hook dug into the creature's flesh, not far from the web-slinger. Spider-Man didn't think that Green Ghost Boy would feel anything like that.

Huntress soon appeared, pulled in by a motor within her crossbow that was attached to the grappling hook.

"You sure know how to show a girl a good time" she said

"Really, that tired old phrase? I expected better from you" Spider-Man said

"It's still a classic. You don't disrespect the classics" Huntress replied. She pulled out a sharp looking instrument and plunged it into the creature's flesh. The creature didn't even register it as a scratch.

"You would've been better served with a wiffle bat, or a pillow" Spider-Man remarked.

Huntress gave the web-slinger a sideways glance.

"Don't be a dummy. I need a tissue sample" she said, taking out what Spider-Man had thought was knife, now revealed to be some sort of syringe.

"That's a good idea. But you're going to need a really good computer to analyze that, diagnose it, and create a cure" Spider-Man said.

"I know where that computer is. It might actually be the best computer in the world. It's where I read about you. I need you to keep this guy away from people. He looks hungry"

Before Spider-Man had a chance to ask, Huntress had pressed a button on her wrist, and then dropped down. She made a perfect landing on her motorcycle, which only now he noticed matched her outfit perfectly. Spidey watched as she turned and sped away.

Now Spider-Man turned his attention to the creature. He quickly climbed onto his back, and ran towards the creature's head, shoving aside the tendrils that seemed imbued with their own life, like the tendrils on a Portuguese man-of-war fish.

The creature shook its head, aware of Spider-Man's presence, and seeing him as some sort of nuisance, as some sort of fly. Which Spider-Man thought was kind of funny. From both wrists, Spider-Man shot out two strong web lines, attaching them to the sides of the creature's head. Spider-Man hoped that he could control the creature in this manner, and perhaps steer it away from people.

Spider-Man soon had the opportunity to do so. The creature was out of the park and walking along a street. People looked on in horror and ran away as soon as they saw the thing. The creature spotted the people as well, and it sped up, trying to catch them with an open mouth. As soon as he saw this, Spider-Man stomped on the creature's head as hard as he could and he pulled the thing's head away from any nearby people before they could be swallowed up.

The creature growled and entered a wide roundabout. The place was packed with people, be they pedestrians or drivers in their cars. With its jaw, the creature grabbed an SUV with a family inside. Before it could munch down hard, Spider-Man once again stomped on its head and tugged on the webbing.

"Oh come on Green Ghost Boy! You can't put strange people into your mouth! It's disgusting!" Spider-Man yelled, stomping on the creature's head "Of course, you're not Green Ghost Boy anymore, now are you? What should I call you?" and Spider-Man stomped again, but the creature was stubborn "Well, you're still a theriodont, despite everything, so I'll call you that. Let go of those people you filthy theriodont!" and Spider-Man pounded once again on the monster's head.

The Theriodont, with a wine, let go of the car and now shook its head vigorously. Spider-Man held on, thanks to his adhesiveness and to his grip on the webs attached to the Theriodont's head.

Spider-Man heard the sound of rotors; he looked to both sides, and saw that police helicopters were flying by the creature. They seemed to be ready to fire at it. With as much strength as he could muster, Spider-Man tugged the webs, hoping that the creature would leave the city. He got more than he bargained for, as the Theriodont began to hover in the sky, and then fly a short distance above the city.

Now, Spider-Man hoped that the thing that used to be a boy would fly up and out into space. But that wasn't the end of the web-slinger's woes. The tendrils that made up the Theriodont's mane, which terminated in heavy and hard spheres, began to move and shudder violently. Spider-Man's spider-sense alerted the wall-crawler to the immediate danger; however, all he could do was steel his body against the coming assault.

It was hard; he received some of the hardest blow in his life. The tendrils hit him hard on the skull, on the jaw, on his back, hard enough to force tears out of his eyes. But Spider-Man held on.

A tendril hit his arm. He ignored the pain, but he couldn't ignore his spider-sense. He looked forward, and saw that the Theriodont was about to crash into a building. Spider-Man yanked hard, even as the tendrils struck. The Theriodont was forced upwards and away from the building, barely missing it by a few inches. The Theriodont now flew higher, and thankfully, away from the city.

The tendrils continued their assault, but Spider-Man countered.

"WILL YOU STOP DOING THAT? I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU KID!" Spider-Man yelled out as he smashed his foot over and over again into the Theriodont's skull. But the Theriodont kept on battering him with its tendrils.

They were soon above a nearby marshland. The Theriodont began to fly in circles in dizzying speeds, trying hard to get Spider-Man off of its head. The wall-crawler held on, trying his best to steer and stomp as he was pummeled by the tendrils.

Finally, in a sudden move, the Theriodont dove into the swamp below. The crash was violent; the Theriodont buried itself in water and mud, while Spider-Man was hurled and crashed into several trees, before he finally stopped.

Slowly, Spider-Man got on his feet. His whole body ached from the beatings it had received. The Theriodont rose up from the bog and looked at Spider-Man. It let out a roar and then, charged.

Spider-Man prepared to leap, although he didn't know if he had the strength to move out of the way in time. And then, something shot through the air and hit the Theriodont on its nose.

The creature slowed down, and then stopped. A crossbow bolt was sticking out of its face.

The Theriodont soon lost its glow. The flesh turned hard and gray, like rock, and then, it began to crumble.

Spider-Man looked in the direction where the bolt had come from. There, standing on a nearby elevation, stood Huntress, and next to her stood Batman, Nightwing and Batgirl. It was Batman who held the crossbow in his hand.

Stumbling across the marsh, Spider-Man walked towards the remains of the Theriodont. There, amidst the crumbling bits, lay the human remains of the Green Ghost Boy. He was still breathing, and apparently well.

_I was wrong. This Batman isn't as incompetent as I thought._

Spider-Man felt his legs weaken and for the first time in a long time, he felt he was losing his balance. He began to fall, but he was caught by Huntress who was somehow there; his face fell upon her bosom.

"Mom told me this would happen" she said in exasperation.

* * *

Lex Luthor sat and watched what was happening in Gotham with some interest. As soon as he had seen enough, he turned off the television and grabbed his phone. Someone immediately picked up.

"Keep working on the MR-16. The results are interesting" he hung up and he walked up to the window. He looked at Metropolis the city that was his, and he felt content.


	5. The Great Escape

**5**

**The Great Escape**

He was a man of Earth in a hellish world. No matter what torture Desaad would inflict upon him, no matter how many times he had been placed before Desaad's Fear Machine, he would not be broken. He still remembered his name – Thaddeus Brown. To the astonished masses who had once seen his performances, he had been Mister Miracle, the man who could escape from anything. And now, so many years after he had been captured by Desaad (how many years had it been?), he still tried to escape from this grim world called Apokolips.

Thaddeus dared for a second to look up. It was still up there, that orb of doom. He didn't know why it was there and for what purpose. His gut told him that it was for no good. He lowered his head and continued on his way.

Clutching the device jealously in his hand, Thaddeus Brown navigated the mazes that winded through the dark ecumenopolis that was Apokolips. He passed the Hunger Dogs quickly; any one of them could betray him to a Parademon, or to Willik. Though they hated Darkseid, they feared him even more; one look from that monster was enough to erase one from existence.

Deep within his heart, Thaddeus would not blame a lowlie for betraying him. Life in the Armagetto, subject to the depredations of dark lords, wicked furies and demons always ended before it should.

But there was always hope. Even here, in this wretched world outside of the Universe, there was still hope. He pulled his hood over his head as he ran past the nearby parademons, into another corridor of steel and death.

He passed by Mantis, who did not even deign to look at him, and lost himself within the crowds of Hunger Dogs who begged for their lives.

Finally, he reached the wall. He knocked on it in an irregular manner. Deep within, he heard the whirring and buzzing. As soon as he was sure no one was looking, Thaddeus put his entire weight against the wall. The wall gave in, turning and taking Thaddeus away from the outside, and into the protection of a place that did not seem to match the rest of this accursed world. It seemed like a little bit of paradise in the midst of hell.

Thaddeus was not alone. There was another man within this small bit of paradise – although he was dressed like a Hunger Dog, he was not at all like them in appearance. He still had his hair; though it was white (Thaddeus had been forced to lose his) and he did not seem at all broken – whether it be in mind or in body. Furthermore, there was in him a willingness to help others that no longer existed amongst the denizens of Apokolips.

Without saying a word, Thaddeus pulled the device out of his pocket. He handed it to the man.

"Here it is Himon. Can you do anything with it?" the old circus performer asked.

The unusual Hunger Dog lifted the device and carefully looked at it. He smiled.

"I think I can. I remember this one very well" he said in a cheerful tone.

"You do?" Thaddeus asked, puzzled.

"Indeed. It was one of the first Mother Boxes I ever made. Where did you find it?"

"I didn't. One of Granny Goodness' orphans did" Thaddeus replied.

"Would that have been Scott Free?" Himon asked.

The man who had once been Mister Miracle, nodded with a smile.

"That boy has talent. He could take away my crown as master escape artist if he were on Earth. However, I think he got that device through other means" Thaddeus said with a smirk.

Himon gave the Earthman a sideways glance.

"You are referring to that woman?" he asked

"I think that she's in love with him" Thaddeus replied happily.

"For love to exist in such a place as this would be a true miracle" Himon said with a sigh. He looked at the device again. A slight ping came out of it. Himon smiled with affection "This Mother Box could break the bonds that keep you here, Thaddeus Brown, but I cannot guarantee your freedom, or your safety. She is too old."

Mister Miracle's face darkened and grew more somber.

"I can't live here anymore. I'm too old and I'm not getting any stronger. I can't be broken and become one of them. I don't want to die here. You chose to be here. I didn't" he said.

Himon nodded.

"I cannot argue with you" he said with a sigh "But I don't think I said that I would not help either. Unfortunately, it might not be the sort of help you would want"

"I think I would want it, especially if it gets me out of this hell" Thaddeus Brown said.

The benign Hunger Dog looked carefully at the old Mother Box. She was a bit bent and battered, and she was not like her younger sisters on New Genesis, but that would be to Mister Miracle's advantage.

As the man from Earth watched, Himon tinkered with the small box that easily fit within the palm of a hand. He took out wires as thin as a human hair and placed it within the device without the aid of any magnifying glass. She let out another ping.

Once he was done, he gave her back to Thaddeus Brown.

"She will take you back to Earth, but you must be careful. In her old age, the Mother Box needs a considerable amount of power. You will have to stand as close as you can to a fire-pit to give her that power. There is also something else you must take care of. She cannot shake off pursuers as easily as her younger sisters; she is too old for that. Make sure that you are not followed before opening the boom tube"

"I will" Thaddeus said with a nod. He looked at the Mother Box and smiled warmly at her. The old man kissed her with affection, as if she were his old grandmother. She pinged in return.

"Himon, you've been a good friend. But if I have to come back here to see you again, well, I hope I never see you again" he said warmly.

Himon smiled, "And I hope to never see you here again as well. Take the tunnel. It will take you to the closest fire-pit"

Thaddeus Brown waved his hand and he walked into the tunnel to Himon's left. The tunnel was dark and cold. Thaddeus remembered being afraid of such places as a child – it was one of the reasons he had become an escape artist – but he enjoyed the safety of this tunnel. It twisted and turned and kept on going for some while; how Himon built this beneath Darkseid's nose was a mystery. Perhaps Himon hadn't built it; there were many strange mysteries within Apokolips, artifacts of a previous world of older gods.

Unnoticed by the lowly crowd, Thaddeus Brown exited the tunnel. There in the distance, he could see the fire-pit. He usually tried to avoid them. But they did provide power for the entire planet. They would feed the Mother Box.

Looking this way and that, Thaddeus made his way to the fire-pit. At first, he was discreet and slow, but soon, the expectation of returning home, and the dread of failure quickened his pace.

A Hunger Dog noticed the Earthman's hurry. Looking for a chance at a longer life, he called the attention of a Parademon. The Parademon followed Thaddeus, but lost him in the crowd. The circus performer had spent enough time on this world to know it well.

Thaddeus emerged in another street, closer to the fire-pit. He kept his head low whenever he saw a Parademon or a member of the feared Dog Cavalry. It seemed as if the trek took hours, when it in fact took only one, but Thaddeus was finally there, at the edge of the fire-pit. He took out his Mother Box, and he held it over the flames as close as he could. She pinged with joy. Thaddeus could feel the heat burning into his flesh. But the Mother Box hummed with ever more strength. She was old, but she would take him away from this accursed world.

There was a scream, and Thaddeus turned his head away from the fire-pit. The Dog Cavalry had noticed him. An obliterating ray shot past his head. He could see Willik leading a squadron of Parademons toward him. Two more shots crashed near his feet.

They were either very poor shots, or they wanted him alive. Thaddeus Brown gritted his teeth and barely dodged another shot. And soon, he wouldn't just be dodging shots; they were approaching with each step and would knock him down with their hands and jaws.

Mother Box pinged in his hand and Thaddeus let out a triumphant laugh. She was now strong enough to take him home. The escape artist dodged another shot, and he did as Himon had taught him; there was an enormous boom that nearly knocked him over.

Despite this, Mister Miracle stayed on his feet. His eyes widened with wonder. He could feel Earth from here.

The interdimensional corridor was opened. Thaddeus Brown quickly ran into it; by that time the Dog Cavalry was hot on his heels, firing their guns. The interdimensional bridge closed and several over-eager riders and their mounts fell into the fiery pit, screaming as they went down.

* * *

Dr. Doom watched the news with interest. In a city called Gotham some strange things had occurred, but the day had been saved by a Spider-Man. Not many channels focused on him however, or his mysterious female companion. Superheroes were just as common here. Doom was certain that Spider-Man's presence in the media would soon fade. Still, the fact that Spider-Man was so well received was amusing.

It contrasted with what Doom remembered from his own Earth; J. Jonah Jameson would have certainly blamed Spider-Man for the attacks upon this Iceberg Lounge and for the odd, Loris headed monster that flew above the city. This world did seem to have its own version of Jameson, but his voice was muffled by the others giving the teenaged superhero praise. And his arguments were actually good. From what Doom could see on the news, Spider-Man had appeared conveniently before the teenaged thugs had done the most damage, and he was somehow connected to the monster – it being a companion of his, it seemed. It was a miracle that no one was crying for the wall-crawler's head.

Doom turned off the television, and he set the control orderly on the bedside table. Spider-Man's appearance was not unexpected, but it did present a problem. He had earlier read the report on the doombot that had fallen in San Francisco. It was now in the custody of this world's premier superhero team, the Justice League. Doom pondered on if he should or should not recover the robot. Its artificial brain would melt upon the slightest tinkering of the skull, but judging from the pictures that had been taken on the scene, the robot hadn't disintegrated as it should have. This had the possibility of causing Doom future grief. Doom would have felt more comforted by the idea that no one knew who he was yet, but there was Spider-Man's presence to take into account. If that meddling arachnid formed an alliance with this Justice League, he could tell them about the doombot. Unfortunately, in this strange world, he didn't have the luxury to move with much haste. Besides, there was a silver lining; the webhead had no reason to believe he was alive.

A sigh escaped Doom's lips. He would have to remain calm, and not be too impulsive. He shifted his attention away from anything pertaining to his native Earth, and towards the newspaper he had left on the chair.

There was a picture on the front page of Queen Bee, Bialya's dictator. She was beautiful and dangerous; Doom remembered quite a few women like her. He had discreetly investigated the woman; apparently, her real name was Zazzala and she had the ability to enthrall men (and some women) with her pheromones. This was clear to see in the photographs taken of her; whichever man was in her presence seemed to be slightly drugged. Doom wondered what effect her pheromones would have on Horton cells.

Doom smiled. They would probably have no effect.

With the experience of an aristocratic gentleman, Doom put on his jacket and checked his visage within the mirror. With the memories he had in his brain, it was so odd to look at his own face like this, so unscarred and perfect. Clean shaven, with carefully groomed hair, impeccably dressed with no tie because the collar of his shirt was wide open, Doom looked more like a billionaire playboy, than a tyrannical, armor clad autocrat. He felt some unease. His memories were so tied to that armor that Doom felt naked.

But this was how Doom on this world would be – for now at least. Whenever he needed to be charming, he would wear a jacket; the armor would come on whenever he needed to get his hands dirty. He walked out the hotel room, and into the carpeted corridor from which expensive paintings were hung. A lady in a cocktail dress walked by him. She smiled invitingly. He returned the smile. This was something he remembered from a long time ago – but that was just a memory. Doom waved politely to the lady, but then he continued his way, entering the elevator.

The elevator doors opened into the casino. Doom walked out with a billionaire's strut and the smile of a sly conqueror. He had every right to feel confident. Having managed to amass a small fortune in just a few days was no small feat. And all he had to do was recall what had been written within the pages of Richard Stark's _The Hunter_. Doom still couldn't believe that that stunt in the bank had worked. But from there onward, Doom had begun accumulating capital.

Now it was time to make a reputation, and a few connections within Bialya. He looked at the poker table. The general was there, just as he had been told. Doom grabbed a pretty girl, whispered into her ear, and she hung on his right arm all the way to the table.

* * *

A day had passed since the incident with Green Ghost Boy. Peter had since then learned that the boy's real name was Owen Keller. He was from Star City as he had said. What he hadn't said was that the nerves of his legs had been damaged at a young age by some unknown chemical agent. For the longest time, the boy couldn't walk properly – not without crutches. It was when his brother – a young man in trouble with the law, and who had some connection to a man named Merlyn – had brought him a sample of metaplex. And from there, Owen Keller became Green Ghost Boy. He also became dependant, and addicted to the drug.

For now, Owen was in the hospital, in intensive care. He was still in a coma. His mother should be arriving this day or the day after. Peter wondered if it would be a good idea to visit him – either as Peter Parker, or as Spider-Man.

Peter sighed and looked about him. He was in a small park – much smaller than the one in which Green Ghost Boy became the Theriodont – but it was quiet, and no one else was around, although Peter wasn't going to put on the mask.

He just needed time alone, to think. He wondered how Aunt May was doing; picturing Johnny doing something typically stupid. He certainly hoped that flame-brain didn't burn down the house.

Still, he was glad that Johnny was there, and not here. There was no knowing what he would do with Bette.

Actually, Peter did know, and he groaned to himself. Of course, Peter knew that he didn't have to worry much about Bette if Johnny were about. She was smart enough to take care of herself.

Bette was certainly smart enough for Peter to be careful around her; that is, if she hadn't given him so much freedom to do as he pleased. Following the fight in the Iceberg Lounge and with the Theriodont, Spider-Man had managed to slip away from Huntress and the Bat family of masked vigilantes. He returned to his room, covered in bruises abrasions and sores. The next few hours of rest had healed him up, and he woke up late without Bette asking one question.

Sometimes, he wondered if she knew, but was just playing along. She knew something about Dick; that was certain by the way they acted around each other.

Peter sat down, and started thinking about something else. When he got up from bed that morning, Bette was waiting for him. Apparently, someone had scheduled an exam for him to take in Gotham Academy, set for the next week. Most likely that rich guy, Bruce Wayne.

The youth found a bench and sat on it. He wondered if he'd ever see New York again. He hadn't even seen this world's New York.

"Hey!" a red-headed girl said, waving at him. She was wearing drab jogging outfit, and her hairs was tied in a bun behind her head. It took Peter a while to recognize her; she was Barbara Gordon, and he had seen her at the library. With Dick.

The youthful New Yorker was puzzled by Dick Grayson. When they had at first met, he assumed that he was Bette's boyfriend, but when he moved out, she didn't seem too bothered. And then, he saw him act flirtatiously with Barbara Gordon and a few other women.

Not even Johnny was this proficient. And he would have been smacked across his smug face by his exes for even blinking at other girls. The girls Dick knew easily excused his behavior. It was as if he had a superpower – the superpower to not get smacked by girls once he was done with them, and remain friendly with them – very friendly. There was just some times in which the universe used less direct means to tell Peter that his life was garbage.

"Hi there" Peter said, getting up and holding out his hand "You're Barbara, right?"

"Yes I am. You know me. Dick introduced us in the library" she said.

"Of course" the only two people he remembered from the library were the fifty year librarian, and the lovely girl who studied law. Peter then quickly recalled that Barbara Gordon was also Commissioner Gordon's daughter. The same commissioner he had saved in the Iceberg Lounge, "How's your father? Wasn't he in the middle of that horrible mess that happened the other night?"

Barbara nodded.

"I was scared, but everything's alright. My dad has an amazing amount of luck. He has no broken bones in his body. That Spider guy saved his life" she then looked at Peter in a focused manner "I would very much like to thank him if I see him."

"I'm sure he appreciates it" Peter said, "but I wouldn't know, as I'm not him."

"Dick told me that you have an exam scheduled for next week. You shouldn't be nervous or over study. I see you in that library almost every day. You have to relax" she said with concern.

"But I am relaxing" Peter said, opening his arms "This beautiful park is very relaxing"

"That's why I jog here" Barbara said "Well, it was nice seeing you. Keep relaxing, you deserve it after the hard work you put in"

That sounded strange. And then, Peter remembered. He could ask Barbara what he would certainly not ask Dick.

"Have you ever seen a girl with long dark hair and bright blue eyes? She's tall and athletic" he asked

Barbara shrugged and made a face.

"That sounds like a lot of girls I know. None of which would go to Gotham Public Library" she said. She waved goodbye and kept on jogging.

With a thump, Peter sat back down on the bench. He certainly did intend to take the day off, even if Barbara Gordon hadn't suggested it. Thinking about returning home had distracted him from the fact that he was in a new world. He certainly wouldn't waste much time in it, but he could drink up some of the scenery. He wondered how different this world's New York was to his own.

His spider-sense forced him on to his feet in a sudden blur of motion. He looked around; usually, his spider-sense would tell him from where the danger would come from, but now, something was different.

There was no one in the park now; he was the only person there. There could be an invisible man, but Peter's spider-sense would have told him where the man was.

A sudden deafening boom knocked Peter off his feet and on to his back. The teenager looked up, and he saw a bright light. As the brightness dimmed, but only a bit, he could see several rings coming from the light.

Peter quickly got on his feet. His heart was racing and he gulped. Slowly, he walked up to it, despite the fact that his spider-sense was ringing hard within his head. This looked like a portal. He had to know if it was.

A shadow appeared amidst the bright light. It quickly grew, and Peter realized too late that he should get out of the way. A figure crashed into him, knocking him down on his back, once again.

There was another boom, and the brightness soon disappeared. Peter's spider-sense stopped ringing in his head. But he still had a weight on top of his body. He looked at the bundle on top of him. The closest thing to his face was a shaved head.

With a bound, the weight was off of Peter's body. He looked up, and saw a figure standing over him. The figure was a man, and if he wasn't than he was a good facsimile of one. He was an old man – the wrinkles and scars on his face were deep. His white beard seemed to have been clumsily cut close to the chin with a knife. His head was shaved, but his white eyebrows were bushy. He wore strange alien clothing.

The man wasn't looking at Peter. His attention was drawn towards the sky, and then towards the trees and the grass of the park.

As Peter got up on his feet, he could see tears welling up within his eyes.

"I did it" the old man said "I'm home." And then he let out a tremendous bout of laughter.

Peter felt like a rat for interrupting the old man's moment of joy, but he had a few questions.

"Excuse me sir, but who are you?" he asked.

The old man suddenly turned his head towards Peter. Only now did he notice the youth.

"I knocked you over, didn't I?" he asked.

"Very much so" Peter replied.

"I'm very, very sorry. I left that accursed place in a hurry. You are alright, aren't you?" he asked as he looked at Peter from head to toe.

"I'm fine. I can take a few knocks. But who are you, and what was that?"

"You saw that?"

"Yes I did. You did knock me over, remember?" Peter said, perhaps a bit too testily.

"That was a Boom Tube. A gateway to another world, a world outside this universe, a world they told me I could never leave, but I did!" and the strange man let out a hoot.

When Peter heard that the strange old man had come from somewhere outside of the universe, he became quite interested.

"You were outside of the universe?" Peter asked.

"I was on Apokolips. Believe me, you don't want to be there" the old man said bitterly. It seemed for a moment as if his mind was wandering somewhere else. He suddenly turned towards Peter "Son, who are you?" he asked.

"Peter Parker. I'm from New York" he said, leaving out the fact that he was from another universe.

"And what year is this?"

"2017" Peter replied.

The old man's eyes widened in shock, "has it been that long? It was 1971 when I left."

Peter raised an eyebrow.

"That's a long time" the youth said.

Rubbing his forehead, the old man looked around, and his eyes were on the nearby road as a car passed by.

"Are those cars on wheels?" he asked, pointing at them.

"Well, I don't think I've ever seen a car on anything else" Peter said awkwardly.

"Shouldn't they be flying? And look at you! You're wearing a sweater vest as if it were 1963!" he said, looking at Peter with shock. The teenager soon realized that the old man probably thought that the year 2000 would have flying cars and spandex.

"Believe me sir, it's 2017. It's not what you expected, but you can check any newspaper to see" it was what Peter had done, when he first got here.

"I'll do that" the old man said, nodding "And what's this sir business?"

"Well, I don't know your name" Peter said.

The old man's eyes widened again, now in embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm probably unrecognizable; it's been so many years, and I must be different" the old man took a deep breath and continued "I am Thaddeus Brown, Mister Miracle, master escape artist."

He smiled, but the expression on Peter's face was blank. The youth knew about the current day celebrities and superheroes of this Earth, but he knew nothing about people of the past.

Peter smiled, not knowing what to say, until he came up with a solution:

"I can't believe it. You look nothing like Miracleman. I mean, Mister Miracle" Peter realized that lying like that may not be a good idea, but he was desperate not to irritate this old man. He had an apparent way to travel outside of the universe, after all.

"I don't have a way to prove it at the moment, but I will. Say, this doesn't look like New York" he said, looking around.

"This is Gotham" Peter replied.

"Gotham?" old Thaddeus seemed to be thinking of something before he smiled. He turned to Peter and pointed at him "You're far from home son"

"You're absolutely right about that Mr. Brown" Peter said. He noticed a metallic brick within what seemed like a breast pocket. "What's that?" he asked, pointing at the brick.

"The Mother Box. She got me here, opening up that Boom Tube" Thaddeus patted the brick gently "I owe her my life" he looked to his right "Since we're in Gotham, that means that the JSA headquarters isn't far away. I need to see if Oberon is still alive"

Peter wondered what he was talking about when the old man mentioned the JSA. For a moment, he thought that he had been talking about the Justice League.

Mister Miracle then began to move. In a rush, Peter began to follow.

"You don't mind if I follow you, do you Mr. Brown?" he asked

"You're no Parademon, so I don't see the problem" the old man said.

Peter followed the old man through streets he had only seen at night. As they walked along, Peter wondered how he would start a conversation which would lead him to learn more about these Boom Tubes with which Thaddeus Brown had crossed over from outside of the universe.

They stopped at an old building, a big square block of dark red brick. Thaddeus simply walked up the stairs and leaned over the door's lock. To Peter, it was suspiciously like breaking an entry. The door opened as the old man leaned his weight on it.

"Come on in kid" the old man said. Peter followed him into the dark building. Mister Miracle turned on a light switch. He found himself within a normal entry of a home. There was a coat hanger and an old umbrella stand with the letters JSA stamped on it, close to the door. Thaddeus Brown walked towards the nearest door within the building and tentatively grabbed the knob. He turned it, and the door opened. Thaddeus sighed with relief.

"At least the inside is still open" he said. Peter shot him a suspicious look.

"It's been a long time" the old man explained.

They walked into a room that was very much like a museum. There were several stands and display cases; within them, Peter could see several colorful outfits and other such objects. Along the walls, he could also see old newspaper clippings. He recognized a few of the names, like Green Lantern and Flash, but the men attached to them were different from the pictures he had seen on the contemporary newspapers. There were other photographs of heroes either retired, or long gone.

Thaddeus suddenly let out a hoot that had Peter turning in his direction.

He was holding a colorful yellow and red suit, with a green cape and a mask that was not so different from the one Peter wore.

"After all these years they kept it!" Thaddeus said, overjoyed.

"Is that your suit?" Peter asked.

"Oh yes it is. I escaped so many dangerous contraptions in these long-johns. I'm glad I wasn't wearing this when Desaad nabbed me" the old man said, folding his suit.

"What did happen to you?" Peter asked.

"I still don't know" the old man said "I was returning home from a dinner with an old friend when a boom-tube opened in front of me. It was Desaad, and another demon of Apokolips called Brol. He said he wanted to see me escape from his world. And I did"

The old man looked around and seemed to spot something. He walked towards a corner, and it was then that Peter noticed that there was a phone there. It was a pity that Peter's own phone had no battery. He would have lent it. Even if the old man probably wouldn't know how to use it.

Thaddeus grabbed the reciever and dialed. He stood there for a while, and then, he hung it up.

"Oberon's not at his home. If he still lives there" the old man said with a frown "or if he's still alive"

Peter decided not to ask who Oberon was. He did pretend to know who Mister Miracle was, and he might reveal himself to be a liar if he asked about someone he should know about. The youth now decided that it would be a good time to ask about the Mother Box.

"Mr. Brown, I was wondering if I could ask you something" Peter began to ask.

"What is it?"

Cautiously, Peter said "You said that your Mother Box got you here. What is it? Can it open portals into other universes?"

There was a strange ping sound and Thaddeus Brown smiled.

"I think you've irritated her a bit, by calling her an 'it', but she knows you're a good kid. She's a wonderful device, a miniature super-computer whose abilities I have yet to master. She's old unfortunately, and a trip like the one that I made from Apokolips to here cannot be repeated" there was another ping. Thaddeus Brown looked at Peter "She's telling me that you seem to be a bit disappointed. And that you're hiding something."

Peter looked at the escape artist, and then at the Mother Box he held in his hand. There was no use in pretending.

"I am disappointed. And I have been lying to you, for which I'm very sorry; I don't know who you are, and that's because I'm not from this universe. I was hoping that your Mother Box might help me, since you did say that she brought you here from outside of the universe" the youth admitted.

Thaddeus Brown nodded.

"I'll forgive the deception. It ain't nothing compared to the lies I witnessed in the Armagetto. Mother Box here was already telling me that you were strange. She's also telling me she can't help you. She's spent"

Peter found a seat and fell into it. And then he realized. Perhaps that Mother Box wasn't the only one. He looked up at Thaddeus.

"Tell me…" Peter stopped. His spider-sense was ringing again, in the same way it had when Thaddeus arrived. Mister Miracle's Mother Box was pinging violently. The escape artist looked at her, concerned.

"I can't believe it! They found me!"

No sooner had Mister Miracle had said that, when there was an enormous boom within the museum room. There was a violent flash of light, and out from it emerged an enormous alien clad in bizarrely designed armor, somewhat reminiscent of pre-Columbian cultures. He held within his hand a sort of staff weapon which shimmered with black dotted energy. The alien goliath looked at Peter with cold callous eyes.

"Get out of here boy! That's Protector Willik!" Thaddeus Brown yelled out. However, the Apokoliptian scourge lowered his club and pointed it at the teenager. A horrid energy made from black dots bolted from it, towards Peter.

The young superhero barely dodged it, leaping to the side while removing his shoes, and landing on the wall. The blast however, had singed his shirt, opening it up and revealing his suit beneath. The young man cursed himself. He dodged another blast from Willik and searched in his pocket for his mask and gloves. They weren't there. That was when he remembered that he had left them in his other pants, along with his boots. Peter cursed again. Fortunately, he had his web-shooters.

He stretched out both his arms and aimed. Each web landed a few feet behind Willik; Peter then stretched the web, and used its tensile strength to catapult him, feet first, on to the alien monster. The alien was hurled backwards, but he didn't fall. Peter landed on to his feet and he delivered three jabs followed by a right hook. The large behemoth of Apokolips fell down, but he did so in a manner that was more comical than actually devastating – he fell on his rear. He shook his head, and growled.

In one bound, Protector Willik got on his feet. He swung his club with ability. Peter barely dodged several swipes, until a backhand from the alien hurled him into the wall.

"Okay mister, you're tough, but I'm going to beat you up with the power of my determination! It's radioactive!" Peter said, getting out of the hole.

Again, the alien growled. He pointed his club at the youth. More energy seeped from the tip.

"Willik!"

The alien turned his head to look at Thaddeus Brown who was holding his Mother Box, his arm extended.

"Get lost!" Mister Miracle growled out. There was a ping, and a bright light emerged on the floor. Willik yelled as he fell in. The bright light quickly faded.

"What happened?" Peter asked.

"I had Mother Box send him into a volcano. I don't think he'll survive that" Mister Miracle then looked at Peter's shredded shirt, and the black spider showing through it. "It seems Mr. Parker, that you still haven't told me everything. Of course, I should have guessed. Mother Box did say that you were stronger than the average human. I don't think I could have taken that back hand so well"

Peter looked at his fists. They were beginning to go red.

"That guy took my punches very well. It was almost like punching Captain America's shield" he said.

"Your punches were good enough to have him on his ass! Now let's get out of here before more arrive. Tell me, does this world still have heroes?" Thaddeus asked.

Peter felt strange. Here he was, a youth from another universe, being asked about the heroes native to this universe, by a native of this universe. Just thinking about it made the youth a bit dizzy.

"There's this team called the Justice League. They're made up of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Flash, and I can't really name the rest. As I said, I'm new to this place" Peter admitted.

"It doesn't matter. I am befuddled by the names you just threw me. I knew Diana would still be around, but Alan and Jay?" Mister Miracle walked towards a display case that hadn't been damaged in the fight with Willik. He stretched his arm into and did something.

There was a click, and a panel of the wall slid sideways, revealing something that looked like a sci-fi version of a phone-booth.

"What's that?" Peter asked, pointing at it.

"It was a gift to the JSA from a Thanagarian friend. It's a beam that transports you to somewhere else. In this case, if I remember properly, it will take us to Blackhawk Island. We can at least communicate with this Justice League from there" Thaddeus said.

"Why can't we call them from here?" Peter asked.

Mister Miracle sighed.

"It might not be a good idea. Now let's suit up and go."

"I don't have a mask. Or my gloves. Or my boots" Peter said meekly.

Mister Miracle looked at the youth.

"I think I see them in your pocket" he said.

Peter was puzzled, and then he looked into his other pocket. His face went red.

"This doesn't usually happen" he said.

"It only happens to the best of us" the old man said. They quickly got dressed in their costumes, with Peter removing what remained of his outer clothes, while simply putting on his gloves and mask. As soon as he was in his suit, Mister Miracle now looked like a different man. No longer was he a scarred old man that would seem a bit crazy if you hadn't seen him come out of a wormhole. He looked like an honest to God hero. A man who certainly did look like he was the greatest escape artist ever to exist.

They entered the old Zeta-Beam booth and disappeared.

* * *

Spider-Man was expecting to see a beach, or a cave, or something dark and dusty. Instead, what he saw nearly dropped his jaw. He walked forwards, towards the large window from which the starry heavens could be seen.

"Mister Miracle, I can say with absolute certainty that this is not an island" the web-slinger said to the old man.

The old man was himself surprised, in spite of the fact that he had been on another world for forty-six years.

Neither of them noticed the work that had been put into the design of the interior. They didn't notice the trees that gave the place a natural feeling, nor the birds of paradise flying over their heads, as if this was their natural habitat. There was only one thing that the Amazing Spider-Man and Mister Miracle, the world's greatest escape artist, could see. Before their very eyes, they saw the curve of the Earth, her clouds, her oceans, and her continents.

"What is this place?" Spider-Man asked. There was a buzzing in his head; his spider-sense had him on his toes, turning around with speed and agility.

"You are in the Watchtower" replied a powerful looking woman.

Mister Miracle turned. He knew that voice well.

Spider-Man had seen the woman on TV several times. Despite being a wall-crawling, web-slinging friendly neighborhood amazing Spider-Man, he never expected to meet her in person. She was much taller than the television would have led him to believe.

Spider-Man was stricken speechless by her visage; however, Mister Miracle had no such failings. Fearlessly, he walked up to her.

For her part, Wonder Woman's eyes widened when she looked at Mister Miracle.

"Thaddeus? Is that you?"

The old man smiled and removed his mask.

"Hello Diana. You're still beautiful, old lady"

The Amazon walked up to the old escape artist.

"Are you really Thaddeus Brown, a man we all thought died for more than forty years?" Wonder Woman asked. It seemed as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

Mister Miracle held out his arm.

"Use the lasso" he said.

By now, Spider-Man's spider-sense was making him aware of several other people within the space station. He saw a couple with wings to his right, on a ledge high above them, leaning against a tree was a young man wearing a black shirt with a red S on it. Spider-Man recognized him from Gigi's show. Next to him stood a green skinned girl, and his spider-sense was going crazy because of her. On Spider-Man's left, a young man with dark skin, blond hair and gills stood on another ledge. Lying on the ground next to him was a green tiger. Not far away stood a man with stretched limbs and a red suit. He looked ridiculous but his powers were not; Spider-Man knew that thanks to Reed Richards.

Wonder Woman wrapped the lasso around the old escape artist's arm.

"What's your name?" she asked

"Thaddeus Brown, Mister Miracle" he replied.

Her eyes widened, and there was a smile on her face. She immediately gave him a heartfelt hug.

"Thaddeus! We thought you were dead! What happened?" the Amazon asked.

"I was kidnapped by Desaad, and taken to Apokolips to suffer a lifetime of torture and pain. I only escaped thanks to the help of Himon, a New God from New Genesis disguised as a Hunger Dog" he stopped and looked at the lasso on his arm.

"I'm sorry" Wonder Woman said, unwrapping the lasso from his arm. She looked in Spider-Man's direction.

"Hello Mr. Parker. I've heard a great deal about you" she said.

Spider-Man looked at the Amazon, speechless. He almost choked. How did she know his name? How was a woman like this aware of his existence?

"I wouldn't know who this Mr. Parker is. I call myself your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. It's a name that suits me well. Besides, I could be a Eugene Thompson, or a Johnny Storm" he said, trying to cover himself up.

"I know about you Mr. Parker. I don't need to use the lasso for that. And I also know about how you may have come here" she said.

Spider-Man's heart nearly leapt out of his chest. What did this Amazon know?

"That's what I'd like to know. How did they get here? The security was supposed to have been beefed up since what happened seven years ago" the young man in the black shirt said.

"It's not just that. Several other things have been failing in the Watchtower lately" the green girl said; this was followed by a severe look that the winged couple and the guy with gills gave her. She looked embarrassed "Sorry. It just came out"

"Why are we worried? Wonder Woman seems to know the old guy" the green tiger said, to Spider-Man's hidden astonishment.

"Beast Boy, even so, we should be cautious" the gill guy said. The tiger then turned into a green skinned boy. The web-slinger wondered if he was related to the green girl. And if they were from Mars.

Wonder Woman kept her eyes on Spider-Man, something that left the wall-crawler slightly unnerved – in any other circumstance, he would have thought that having the attention of such a woman would be great – but this woman was serious, and meant business.

"I was not referring to the security breach, although that must be looked into" she said, turning her head slightly to the man with the S. She turned back to look at Spider-Man "Batman found traces of your costume on a robot that fell in San Francisco, from what seems to have been a portal orbiting the Earth. Can you explain that?"

Spider-Man was stunned, first, by the revelation that these strange people he hadn't even met might know where he had come from (or at least, have an idea), and secondly, by the mention of a robot. That was what shook Spider-Man up the most.

"A robot fell in San Francisco?" he asked "What did it look like?"

"Like a robot with a green cape and tunic" the boy with the S on his chest said.

Spider-Man nearly choked on nothing.

"That's a doombot!" Spider-Man said.

"What now son?" Mister Miracle asked intrigued and curious.

"It's a robot duplicate of Dr. Doom. He uses them to…" Spider-Man didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. Again, for the third time this day, his spider-sense rang in that particular manner.

Almost at the same time, Mister Miracle's Mother Box pinged. He looked at Wonder Woman with shock and fear in his expression. The young man looked at the metallic brick as if he recognized it.

"They've found me again!" he said

"Who found you?" Wonder Woman asked. She would get her answer soon enough.

There was a violent boom and a bright light appeared. Out of it came several creatures dressed in green and gold. They were led by a brutish figure, much larger than Willik and dressed in more menacing armor.

"Brol!" Mister Miracle exclaimed.

"Can you do that trick you did before?" Spider-Man asked

"I wish I could son, but the old Mother Box is spent" Mister Miracle replied.

"Okay then, so we're going to have to bust our knuckles the good old fashioned way – by the way, what are these things?" Spider-Man said to the old man.

"They're Parademons. The soldiers of Apokolips"

"Parademons is it? That's just fine by me" Spider-Man said, he shot a web at the gun of the nearest approaching Parademon. With one yank he ripped it out of his hand. He then jumped and kicked him in the face. Spider-Man moved quickly. Before the others could hit him, he dodged and gave the nearest Parademon an uppercut. Another Parademon was given a kick to the gut that pushed him on to his peers.

The gun that Spider-Man had yanked landed near Mister Miracle. Although he was now too old to fight the Parademons in hand to hand combat, this gun would be an equalizer. He quickly picked it up; the many decades he had spent in Apokolips had at least taught him how to use their weapons. He began firing away, hitting several before searching for cover from which he could fire some more.

The young man with the red S dived in amidst the Parademons. He was clearly strong, as he easily tossed them about. The man with the gills entered the fracas holding two handles in his hand from which blue, apparently energetic, blades came out. The one called Beast Boy turned into an elephant and charged, while the green girl flew above everyone and used telekinesis to lift several Parademons up and use them to batter the others.

Spider-Man leapt up into the air, webbing a few Parademons. He saw the brutish figure called Brol fighting the winged couple, the red guy that reminded him of Mr. Fantastic, and Wonder Woman. They were all dangerous, but Wonder Woman was by far the most capable. Brol, now armed with an ax that the web-crawler hadn't seen before, swung it at the Amazon. She caught the blade easily on her bracelets, punching Brol in the face. The winged man and then woman began battering his back with their maces, while the red guy wrapped around his legs like a constrictor.

Brol however, was not a bad fighter himself. An energy beam came out of the ax's pike end. It hit Wonder Woman, who managed to block it with her bracelets in time, but she was still shoved across the room, and into the wall. Now that the ax was bathed in energy, he swung it at the bird couple. They were knocked away. And then, finally, as the red version of Mr. Fantastic made a hammer out of his hand and was about to strike, the Apokoliptian held his ax and the energy wave struck the elastic man.

As Beast Boy changed into a lion to maul the Parademons, and the young man with gills had changed his blades into a shield and mace, Spider-Man gave one Parademon a hammer fist, and then leapt over all the shots being fired, either by the Parademons, or Mister Miracle, and right in front of Brol. Now Spider-Man's spider-sense was going crazy. This creature was without a doubt stronger than he was – Spider-Man would have to rely on his speed, agility and his spider-sense. Brol swung his ax, and Spider-Man began to move. He ran around him at an incredible speed, even for him. To anyone normal watching, he would have seemed like a red and blue blur. And as he moved around Brol, he punched him and webbed him. He gave the alien monster every punch he knew: hammer fists, crosses, uppercuts, chambered punches, jabs, backfists, long fists, haymakers, hooks, overhands, shovel hooks, upset punches, casting punches, and finally diving punches. As his hands were in pain, he still punched, but it seemed that the monster would not fall down. The webbing seemed more effective, but the hand that held the ax was still free, and that was a mistake.

A great surge of energy came out of it that knocked Spider-Man to the floor and released Brol from his cocoon of webs. He grabbed Spider-Man by the leg and he hurled him at the green girl, who came tumbling down with him.

The man in the black shirt with the S on it hurled himself at Brol, while a green triceratops charged him from the rear. The young man with the gills was also attacking Brol, hacking at him with glowing blue axes of his own. The Parademons had been dealt with.

And then Wonder Woman came back, as did the red guy and the birds. They all charged at Brol. Wonder Woman was especially ferocious, punching him, grabbing his leg, and hurling him to the ground.

Brol waved his fist, which knocked Wonder Woman just a few feet back. He used the space given to tap an odd brick similar to Mister Miracle's Mother Box that was strapped to his belt. Everyone was hurled backwards by an unseen force.

Mister Miracle came out of his cover, and he shot several times at the monstrous alien. Each shot was blocked by Brol's ax. The blade was surrounded by red energy. He swung his ax, and the blast hit the old escape artist in the chest.

"Mister Miracle!" Spider-Man shouted out in anger, and he lunged at the Apokoliptian warrior, ignoring his spider-sense. Now Brol's ax was surrounded by black dotted energy. All he did was hold it high. The blast hit Spider-Man head on. He collapsed on the floor, every cell in his body seemingly screaming out in pain. He had enough awareness to see Brol open up a Boom Tube, and escape through it, before the darkness overcame him.

* * *

Diana rushed towards Thaddeus Brown, while M'gann, Superboy and Hawkman checked on the Parker boy. Gently, she held him up. He was still breathing, but weakly. There was a horrible burn on his chest, and it seemed that his sternum had been pushed in.

Blood was beginning to trickle out of the old man's mouth. Thaddeus opened his eyes.

"Diana, is he alright?" he asked.

"Do you mean Parker? He's alive" she turned to see Hawkman take the strange boy to the infirmary. She looked back at Thaddeus.

"I think he'll make it. He's strong. Could you please thank him for me?" the old man gulped, trying to keep the blood from gathering in his mouth "I'm glad that you're here Diana. It's so much better to die in your arms than in Apokolips. Goodness knows what they would have done to my body. It is a nightmare of a world. Especially now with that war world over it. Please see if Oberon is well. And my son… tell him that I'm sorry. Don't forget to bury me in this costume. I'm Mister Miracle after all. I can escape anything. Anything but this."

Thaddeus Brown closed his eyes forever.

* * *

Bron knelt before his lord and master, and he was afraid.

"Mister Miracle has been dealt with, my lord" he said, his voice slightly quivering.

"You are certain?" his dark lord asked.

"I am certain, my lord Darkseid. I hit him with a blast he could not withstand" the warrior replied.

"And do you know if he lived long enough to tell them anything?" Darkseid asked as he stood above him.

Brol was silent.

"I am certain he died, my lord" Brol said.

Darkseid looked at his warrior with deep concentration.

"And I am certain that I no longer need you" the dark lord said. Two beams came out of the dark lord's horrid eyes. They moved quickly and in angular movements. Brol screamed and a second later, both beams had touched him. Where he stood, there was nothing.

Holding his hands behind his back, Darkseid turned towards Desaad.

"I still need you Desaad" he said. Desaad lowered his head and kept his distance.

Darkseid then turned to a deformed, yellow figure with no hair on his head.

"Esak, I want you to conceal the war world and continue working on it. I want it ready for when the time comes"

Esak bowed.

Vandal Savage approached cautiously. He had done business with Darkseid long enough to not irritate him too much.

"Lord Darkseid, my associates and I are concerned about your warriors' incursions into Earth. With what happened between Captain Marvel and Azraeuz in Bialya, and now this, the league may suspect our alliance."

"You have no need to be concerned, Vandal Savage. However, this business with Mister Miracle has brought something to my mind. Now that he is dead, Desaad can no longer come after him. He is released and in a manner of speaking, has made his great escape. However, you are immortal, and therefore, unfortunate. You cannot die. No matter how cruelly anyone tortures you, no matter how long, you will not perish. Even if you were not harmed in any way, you are not free from pain. When this universe finally ends and becomes a dark, cold carcass with nothing in it, you will be alone, and incapable of doing anything else but go mad. I think you must complain to a god about the plight you are in"

Vandal Savage bowed, and he left Darkseid's presence.

* * *

_**Endnote**_: _With this one, I took a bit more time than I thought I would. That's because the chapter I had in my draft was very different from what you've just read here. The original draft had Scott Free and Barda escaping Apokolips while Peter (thanks to Bette Kane) was invited to a major party hosted by Morgan Edge which had Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Wonder Woman and everyone else on the guest list. And then the hordes of Apokolips would come in and ruin everything, revealing their influence on current events. As soon as I had finished the fourth chapter, I realized that my plans for the fifth were too similar (at least to me) to the fourth, and too convenient and sloppy. This monday, I saw a Fourth World omnibus at the store (wasn't able to buy it) and I read through it. That's where I saw Thaddeus and I got the general story for this chapter. It ties in well with the ending in my head. I hope people aren't bored by it._


	6. Integration and Infiltration

**6**

**Integration and Infiltration**

Within the space of just a few seconds, Peter realized that he was dreaming. It wasn't because he was still wearing his glasses, or the fact that Aunt May and Uncle Ben were at a stand shooting at cardboard ducks. There were times in which he wished that he had never gone to that science exhibit, that it was all but a bad dream. He knew it was a dream because the pretty girl from the library was there, with her arm around his. And she was wearing a bathing suit. That couldn't be real.

This place wasn't Coney Island that was for sure. He had been there once. This place looked nothing like it. The carnival was filled with families and wandering individuals. And giant spiders wearing red busboy caps. That struck Peter as being slightly odd.

"Hey, look at that Peter" the girl from the library said, tugging at his arm. She seemed unnaturally strong, and Peter couldn't resist; especially since she insisted in shoving his arm into her bosom.

Peter looked and he was amazed and horrified. He saw a large, wooden mock-up of his head. The forehead was open, and inside he could see Doctor Octopus performing as a DJ inside. He was wearing a colorful Hawaiian shirt with a lei around his neck – indeed, each of his metallic arms had leis around them. The music he was playing was a strange and unpleasant version of thrash punk. Not at all the sort of music anyone with taste would dance to. Pinned to his shirt was a button that read: KISS ME – I'M SUPERIOR.

"Let's go somewhere else" Peter said to the girl. She smiled and nodded her head merrily. Peter didn't know if he should like that, or be disturbed. They soon came upon a man dressed in a demon suit, offering to sell a few more days of the week in exchange for wedding rings. The girl kicked him in the privates. Peter felt better with that; for some reason that made her seem more real, and not like an obscene doll. And he had the sadistic pleasure of seeing the demon squirming on the floor.

She continued pulling him along, until they reached a dunk tank. She looked at it and smiled in a way that left Peter feeling uneasy.

"What are you thinking?" he asked timidly.

The girl giggled. "It would be real fun if you sat in the Dunk Tank"

Peter shook his head vigorously.

"No no no! I'm not doing it. I'm not getting all wet just because you're a pretty girl. I could catch a cold or something"

The girl kept smiling in an unnerving way. She began tugging playfully at the strap of her bathing suit. "Come on! Sit on the chair! Or I'll make you. I can do that because my daddy's rich. And I'm pretty! A pretty girl who might walk away from you."

Peter looked at her, sighed and then he walked towards the Dunk Tank.

The man standing next to the Dunk Tank would have looked like Fancy Dan, except for the fact that he was obscenely fat. He was flanked by a gorgeous blond and a gorgeous redhead.

The redhead winked at Peter. "Are you feeling lucky, tiger?"

The girl from the library smacked Peter across his head.

"Don't look at other girls" she said, clearly cross.

The Fancy Dan lookalike opened the door for Peter. The teenager sat down, knowing that this had been a mistake.

The girl was now holding a red ball in her hand. She tossed it, and as it approached, Peter realized that it wasn't an ordinary red ball; it had been drawn to look like Spider-Man's head. The girl hit the bulls-eye, and Peter fell down into the water.

He suddenly felt an incredible amount of pain, and numbness. He opened his eyes, and he found himself in a bed. It was soft and comfortable, but it was a hospital bed, that much he could tell by the smell and the tubes stuck into him.

Peter tried to ask where he was, but instead he croaked like a frog. Through the corner of his eye, the youth noticed a dark haired man in a white coat. Something within Peter's skull told him that this must be the doctor. The doctor went to an intercom on the wall.

He pressed the button. "Dinah?"

A few seconds passed. "Yes?" a woman's voice asked.

"He's awake"

"I'll be there in a moment. Let me just finish this stuff" she replied, before the doctor walked away from the intercom.

He turned to Peter.

"Good morning Mr. Parker. Or good afternoon. It's hard to tell up here in space. I'm Doctor Pieter Cross. Yes, I know, another Peter, but I have an 'I' in my name. How are you feeling?" he asked

Peter opened his mouth, only to let out a cough. The youth shook his head and he took a deep breath. "I feel numb and worn out. And in pain."

"That's only natural" Dr. Cross said "You were hit by a pretty nasty blast. Any normal person would have died. You were just knocked out for about five days, if I'm counting this correctly" he said, and then muttered, "Your brainwave activity shot up through the roof."

"Five days?" Peter exclaimed. He had never been out for so long. Not to his recollection. He also immediately found himself wondering about Bette, and the girl in the library. He also recalled that he had an exam coming close.

"More or less. Space is tricky for those of us who are new here. Even with all of the clocks" Dr. Cross pointed at an antiquated clock hanging on the infirmary wall "You did heal quickly though. When I first saw you, I thought that you'd spend a few more weeks here. Shows how much I know; although your healing process was delayed for two days – we had to put an inhibitor collar on you, which had an adverse affect on you"

Peter rubbed his neck, not really knowing why. It did seem a bit rough.

"We're in space?" Peter asked, recalling what the doctor had said. It didn't seem like space. Apart from the fact that there were no windows, he seemed to be in a normal hospital room.

"You're in the Watchtower's infirmary. Or rather, in one of the rooms of the infirmary. It's more like a small hospital. And this place is very well equipped. I could make a living here." The doctor said. He was visibly glad to be there.

"The Watchtower?" and then it all came back to Peter. He sat up suddenly "What happened to Mister Miracle?"

Dr. Cross walked over to Peter, keeping him from getting off of bed.

"I'm sorry Peter, but he didn't make it. For what it's worth, Wonder Woman said that he went peacefully" the doctor said.

Peter shook his head. "Damn it!" he muttered. And then he looked at his hands – his naked hands. He realized that he was wearing a hospital gown. His hands went to his face; of course, his mask was gone.

"Don't worry Peter, your secret is safe. It's just that everyone who has access to the Watchtower knows who you are. I think they knew before you came here, judging by the way Batman and Nightwing spoke" The Doctor said.

Peter moaned.

There was a knock on the door. Dr. Cross reached out and touched a button on the wall. The door opened. A blond woman dressed like a Vegas dancer walked in. Peter had absolutely no idea on what to say.

"I'll leave you alone" Dr. Cross said, leaving the room. Peter felt uneasy. The door closed almost silently. The blond woman smiled.

"Hello Peter. My name is Dinah, but I'm also known as Black Canary. Have you heard of me?" she asked. Despite her choice of clothing, she spoke like the counselor at his school, who Peter had refused to see for some time now. Ever since everything in his life changed.

Peter took a deep breath "I've read about you. And I've seen a few news reports with you on it. You were always with some guy called the Green Beard"

Black Canary smirked. "His name is Green Arrow. But that beard is hard to ignore. And I've seen you on the television. You call yourself Spiderman?"

"That's my other name, yes. Spider-Man, with a hyphen in the middle. So, are you going to have me blame my mother for something? That would be very hard for me to do" Peter said.

"I know; you never knew your mother. That's hard for me to imagine. My mother was a very strong presence in my life."

Suddenly, something turned on within his mind, like a light bulb, but instead of giving him an idea, it brought light to something he should have thought of before.

"How does everyone know my name? And how do you know about my mother?" he asked, straightening his back out on the bed. "I never told anyone about this." Peter stopped. And then he recalled what had been happening in the past few days "Dick and Bette knew my name, as did the librarian and a few others. The only time I spoke about my mother was with that reporter. And it was in front of Dick and that billionaire that took care of him, Bruce Wayne. What's going on? You know too much" and then, something else came back to Peter's memory, regarding the girl from the library. He no longer viewed what he remembered as a fantasy. Something had temporarily pumped up his spider-sense "how did she know my name?"

Black Canary just looked at Peter with an apologetic look.

"All I can say is that we have ways of getting information that we need to have" she said "And we really need to know who you are Peter"

"You need to know little old me? I'm flattered. And this isn't even Boston." Peter said.

"Have you ever been to Boston?" Black Canary asked.

Peter grimaced. "No."

Black Canary didn't answer; she just smiled.

"Well, this might not be Boston, but you have made your mark. It was impossible to miss what happened in Gotham. Or what happened within this station just five days ago. You were quite heroic in both cases, but you yourself are something of a mystery" she said "Your first known appearance in Gotham coincided with what you might call a cosmic event. You weren't the only thing to appear either. A robot fell in San Francisco, and is currently being studied by Red Tornado. It had traces of your costume on it before it fell to San Francisco, and you seem to emit similar energetic readings."

Peter's eyes widened. He took note of only one thing she said. "You mean the doombot? You have to be careful with that. Dr. Doom built that thing, and although he's not one of my enemies, I've had my fill of him. Anything that guy makes is dangerous"

Black Canary placed her chin on her knuckles. She seemed pensive.

"Well, at least we have a few more names. But I would like to know more Peter. You have nothing to fear from me" she said.

"What about the doombot?"

Black Canary smiled. "Red can deal with it. The Justice League has faced its fare share of threats. We're your friends"

What she wanted was clear to Peter: an explanation from him. She wanted an honest and detailed explanation of who he was and how he came to be in this world. His spider-sense wasn't picking up anything ominous from Black Canary. Besides, they had a doombot.

They needed to know. Peter took a deep breath. He would have to spill the beans.

"I used to be an ordinary science major. I wasn't very popular – everyone called me a wallflower, or Puny Parker, or a bookworm - which I was. And then, I went to this science exhibit. I had asked several of my classmates if they wanted to come with me, but they weren't interested. The science exhibit was about the wonders of radiation – now that I think about it, the security was a bit shoddy. Anyway, no one noticed a tiny eight-legged guest hanging from the ceiling that day. I can't imagine how my life would have been if anyone had noticed." Peter took another deep breath. He had his misgivings and almost kept his mouth shut. But then, it all came out.

* * *

Guardian and Bumblebee walked into the monitor room, and found Static already there with Kid Flash and Aqualad looking at the main monitor. Robin was standing in the opposite corner, with metal rods attached to his legs and holding crutches. It took another second for Guardian to spot Atom on Kid Flash's shoulder.

The image on the main monitor was a picture that had clearly been taken in a big city. There were two figures within it, caught in a fight. One of them Mal recognized; it was the Spider-Man who had beamed into the Watchtower along with Mister Miracle, prior to the alien attack. He had seen the security footage with Snapper Carr. The other figure was someone the young hero had never seen before; a heavy set man wearing goggles, with robot arms that were like tentacles coming out of his sides.

"What is that?" he asked.

"Some of the most crashiest images I've seen" Kid Flash said "We got them out of the camera in the Spider guy's belt"

"Are you even supposed to do that?" Bumblebee asked, a bit shocked.

"You would be correct Bumblebee, but this is a matter of security" Kaldur said.

Bumblebee winced. She still hadn't forgotten his role in the previous invasion.

Guardian's eyes were still on the photograph. Kid Flash had said it was the 'crashiest' thing he had seen. Mal couldn't see why. He didn't see what was so special about a superhero and a supervillain fighting that would make them seem so extraordinary to the young speedster. But it was remarkable that two superbeings had been fighting without calling attention.

"They're images from another world" Atom said with enthusiasm and elation.

"Another world? That looks like any city in North America" Guardian replied.

"That's New York" Robin said recognizing some of the streets.

"New York? I don't recall hearing anything like that in the news" Static said, pointing at the large image of Spider-Man fighting the man with the tentacles. "That would definitely get the front page of the paper"

"As I said, it's another world" the Atom said "You didn't hear it on the news because it never happened here. It happened there. Not on an alien world within this universe, but a parallel Earth from another universe – within this multiverse perhaps, or even another multiverse." A big smile came on the physicist's face "The possibilities are actually endless. There could be an Earth out there where the non-avian dinosaurs never went extinct"

"You are elated Dr. Palmer" Kaldur said, but he could understand the Atom's enthusiasm. He was familiar with the more exotic theories pertaining to the multiverse. It was a remarkable discovery that almost made him forget about the reemergence of Ocean Master.

"You can't even imagine" Atom replied.

"Show us the other pictures" Static said. He almost seemed like a child on Christmas day hopping about impatiently for his presents.

Kid Flash clicked. A series of other photographs appeared in a progressive slide-show. There was one in which Spider-Man was fighting a man made of sand, another in which he was fighting a huge lizard monster wearing a lab-coat. There was a picture of a man dressed as a green ghoul, standing on a jet powered glider. Another picture showed a man with an electrically themed costume, and another with an old bald man dressed in green with wings.

"That one looks like a vulture" Bumblebee said

"And that one's crash" Kid Flash said, pointing at a picture of a muscular man in a lion skin vest and tight leopard pants.

Mal just looked at the boy from the future with a sideways glance.

"There are other people in this chip that seem more like heroes" Kid Flash said, clicking again on the computer.

A new set of photographs appeared. One that seemed to catch everyone's eye was that of a man seemingly dressed in the American flag, holding a shield, and fighting a Nazi with a red skull for his head. Bumblebee nudged Mal playfully.

"I think it's pretty obvious who the villain in this picture is" Static said, looking at the red skulled Nazi with morbid curiosity.

The next picture had a man in red and golden armor stopping a plane from crashing into a building. Another had a large, godlike man with long blond hair swinging a hammer at a gigantic colossus with an odd purple headdress as a storm raged.

"Honey, if I weren't with you, I would want to definitely know that man's number" Bumblebee said. Guardian could only growl lowly.

Kid Flash clicked again. This time, an image of a man riding an ant, and a woman with insect wings could be seen. Guardian looked at his girlfriend.

"I think I would ask that girl for her number" he said, trying to provoke Bumblebee. It worked; she was scowling at him.

New images appeared. Some showed a large green man in purple pants tearing up the city; another had a quartet of similarly dressed heroes with the number four on their chests. One of them was an orange behemoth, and the other a man on fire.

"That girl is so crash, she's crashing the mode!" Kid Flash said, with regards to the blond member of the quartet.

"They kind of look like the Challengers of the Unknown to me" Robin said, advancing on his crutches.

"These are curious images. Is the Spider-Man in good enough condition to explain what is going on in them?" Kaldur asked.

"Dr. Cross said that he just woke up. He's speaking with Black Canary right now" Flash said.

Guardian looked at the picture. The universe was getting smaller.

* * *

The general waved enthusiastically at Doom as he entered the great dance hall. As expected, the general was surrounded by three beautiful women. All of them were smiling – Doom couldn't imagine why.

"Victor, my good friend. You've made it here after all" the general said clasping Doom's hand.

"Well General Hinzir, sometimes, you have to take a step back and take a rest. That engine you showed me is quite challenging. But then, all engines of alien design are challenging" he said with a smile of fake humility. The truth was that Doom had understood the workings of the engine General Hinzir had given him quite quickly. Oddly enough, Doom found the general design of the engine – and the guns he had seen before – to be unusually familiar, like something he himself, or that accursed Richards, would design. And yet, the devices that the general had him see were without a doubt, alien – even more so, considering that this was an alternate universe. It was as if whoever had made these devices shared something in common with Doom himself – like two disparate fictional characters sharing the same creator.

Doom grabbed a glass of wine from a passing busser, and sipped from it daintily. He saw a girl that looked like Valeria; he looked away – that was not Valeria, and Valeria was nothing but a memory. Doom had no intention of allowing the memories in his head to get a hold of him.

"Victor, is something wrong?" Hinzir asked.

"Nothing. I just realized that here I am alone, and you have three amazingly charming young ladies with you. I'm jealous. You soldiers get all of the fun, while scientists like myself have to work over alien contraptions – by the way, where did these toys come from?" Doom quickly asked. He knew Hinzir well enough to know that there was a very good reason he was a general – he wasn't very bright. Things were different back in Latveria, but sadly, there was no Latveria in this world. The generals he remembered would have had Hinzir imprisoned for impersonating an officer. Doom knew that at this point, he wouldn't arouse any suspicion from the man.

General Hinzir came close, and he spoke into Doom's ear.

"It is from a world called Apokolips" he said fearfully. The fear was not from uttering a word that was supposedly top-secret, thus clearly violating national security, and risking a charge of treason – it was from muttering the word itself. That was what struck the general with fear. The actual word and name.

"You make it sound like a bad place general" Doom remarked.

"You have not met Desaad. I hope you do not. You are a good friend" Hinzir said. Suddenly Hinzir's face lightened up "Now my friend, I must find you some more delicate companionship" Hinzir's eyes scanned the hall. He then pointed at a woman. The woman who reminded Doom of Valeria. "How about her? She is Zaida, daughter of an important owner of a chain of Bialyan supermarkets"

"No. Not her" Doom said abruptly. "I would rather have someone else on my arm"

Everything suddenly stopped. That chattering between gossiping couples, the dancing and the drinking were halted as if someone had pressed a pause button. With two young officers by her side, Queen Zazzala, more popularly known as Queen Bee, entered the room.

She entered with an air of authority that Doom was very much familiar with. She could do anything she wanted in this hall – indeed, in this entire country – and not feel any of the consequences.

"She is beautiful" Doom said to Hinzir "I think that I will ask her to dance with me"

Hinzir looked terrified. "You must not speak to her like that! She will crush you like a bug. Let me take the time to introduce you when she comes to speak to me." Hinzir's smile was that of a lackey begging for mercy. This man would never be a general in Latveria.

"I will introduce myself" Doom said.

He calmly made his way to Queen Bee. He was just a few feet away when the officers around her noticed. One turned to Doom and reached out his arm.

Doom was quick. He grabbed the man by his wrist, and calmly twisted his arm, and then Doom held it behind his back – a well known move meant to disarm possible attackers. The officer was soon on his knees, shrieking.

Before the other guards could intervene, Doom raised his hand and smiled at Queen Bee. The silence within the hall was overwhelming.

"Please, I mean you no harm" he said, in the most debonair tone he knew "It is just that I found myself without a dance partner, and you just struck me as the most beautiful woman in this room"

Queen Bee raised an eyebrow. She looked at Doom carefully. Her lips began to curl into a smile.

"You certainly do seem to know how to move" Queen Bee said with a hint of amusement "Who are you? I've never seen you before."

Doom let go of the officer's wrist. The soldier immediately got up and made his distance from the Latverian, trying his best to rub sensation back into his arm.

"I am Victor Von Doom, and this is my debut" Doom said, with a slight bow.

Queen Bee seemed intrigued. "I have never heard of you before."

"Should I have ever been heard of before? I am but a man from somewhere in Central Europe, who has only recently, begun to discover himself and his potential."

Queen Bee's eyes moved along Doom's figure, dressed in a gray suit with a black shirt and no tie, looking like a millionaire playboy.

"I find it hard to believe that a man with as much moxy as yourself could ever walk upon this Earth without being noticed" she said.

Doom smiled politely "Only now have I arisen from my cocoon"

Suddenly, Hinzir came rushing in, bowing his head down repeatedly as if he were kowtowing to the first Emperor of China. Hinzir truly was a stupid man. He was fortunate that he wasn't stupid enough to stand in front of Queen Bee, instead, standing a safe distance away.

"Please forgive my friend your highness. He is from a foreign land and does not know much about court etiquette."

Queen Bee turned her head at Hinzir. There was a slight hint of annoyance, but she was also curious. "You know this gentleman, General Hinzir?"

"Yes my lady. He is here out of my request. He has been helping my division with the" Hinzir stopped as he realized where he was talking "He is a brilliant scientist who understands a great deal about technology"

Queen Bee turned to look at Doom, who returned her gaze with confidence and fearlessness.

"So what you are saying, General Hinzir" she said, without even looking at the cowering general, never looking away from Doom, "is that you owe your life to this gentleman, is it not?"

Hinzir just nodded furiously, as if his life depended on it.

"You may join your three lady friends Hinzir" Queen Bee stretched out her arm towards Doom "And you shall have the honor of this dance"

Doom smiled wickedly and he took Queen Bee's hand. The music at once began to play. Doom proved to be a skilled dancer, helping Queen Bee glide along the dance-floor. Everyone else stopped to watch. It was like a cheesy romantic fairy tale film. But Doom was fully aware of what he was doing. During pirouettes he would check his watch; within it he had a detector which would allow him to know if Queen Bee was using her pheromones on him. He was certain that they wouldn't work on him, which was why he needed the detector. To his surprise, the detector didn't detect anything.

"You are a superb dancer Victor. Were you always like this, or is this part of your rebirth?" she asked.

"A gentleman should know how to dance" Doom replied enigmatically.

Queen Bee didn't press it. "Indeed. But you know more than any ordinary gentleman. We were having problems with our imports. I thank you for your help. You have made it easier for my people"

"I have also made it safer" Doom said.

Queen Bee looked at Doom with a questioning stare. "How is that?"

"Some of the imports had safety mechanisms within them that would have rendered them useless to your people; possibly even dangerous. I have no doubt that the importers wanted to make sure that the weapons were not used against them. I disabled the safety mechanisms, but if you feel that you need to give your importers a show of good faith, I could re-enable them."

For a flash of a moment, Queen Bee seemed unnerved. But she quickly masked her emotions and she smiled at her dance partner.

"You have done well. There's no need to endanger the people of Bialya in the name of good faith"

The music ended and with it, the dance. Doom and Queen Bee let go of each other's hands. It did not suit Doom to seem needy. Doom let out a sigh.

"Perhaps I should not have been so bold tonight. How can I dance with any other woman after I have danced with you?" he said cavalierly.

"I will reserve the last dance for you Victor. You have earned it" Queen Bee said. Doom bowed and was about to move away with some discretion, when a portion of the dancehall wall came crashing down. The people nearest to the crumbling pieces of masonry managed to escape unscathed, although their expensive clothes were caked in soot and dust. The startled people soon saw what had caused this collapse: a man dressed in black, with a golden thunderbolt on his chest. He was floating on the air, his feet never touching the edges of the hole he had just made.

For some reason, Doom was reminded of the Sub-Mariner.

Slowly, the man hovered towards Queen Bee, until his feet touched the ground just a few feet away. This time it wasn't just one soldier who attacked; every soldier present opened fire on the man. Doom saw with interest as the bullets just bounced off of the man's wide chest. The bullets began to ricochet, and people immediately ducked down as the bullets crashed into the walls. Seeing that their guns were useless, the soldiers attacked with bayonets, swords, sticks and bare hands; it was quite comical.

The strange man easily towered over the soldiers, and as they tried to rush him, he just swatted them away, like flies. He walked towards Queen Bee and he stood before her like a towering monster in human form. Only then did it become apparent to everyone else that the menacing figure had been in a fight. His face was bloodied, and his black suit was torn. His expression was red with rage.

Queen Bee however, did not cower. Perhaps she was too confident in her abilities. Or perhaps she was too angry to realize the mortal danger she was in. Doom touched his belt buckle, and he felt the force-field surround his body.

"Black Adam! What is the meaning of this? You are interrupting a peaceful event!" she said.

Black Adam laughed.

"Oh yes, you would be having a ball. Celebrating what your flunkies have done to Khandaq." The menace spat out with clear hatred.

Queen Bee was genuinely puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

"And you pretend to not know. I knew you would say something like that" Black Adam turned to everyone present. "It is a cliché after all. When someone is caught in a double-cross, they always ask the victim what they're talking about" he turned to Queen Bee "Be original you witch! Before I kill you and everyone in this country, tell them, and the world how you sent your four riders of Apokolips into my country to slaughter my people. You could have sent them to Qurac, but you were fool enough to think that your dogs could kill me. I killed them!"

Queen Bee was now truly aware of how dangerous her situation was. Doom was intrigued.

"They must have acted without my consent. I was already having problems with them" she said.

"I am going to skin you alive" Black Adam snarled.

Doom knew that he had to act and quickly. Queen Bee was his best chance at making it big in this world. He took a calculated risk; he punched the man in the face. His hand was flooded with pain; it was like punching a rock, or a slab of steel. Ever since he made his discovery in the Bialyan desert, his body had a strange relationship with pain: sometimes he didn't feel it, despite being aware of any injuries, and other times he did feel it, at times, horribly so. Still, Doom could handle pain well and easily ignore it. Pain was nothing to Doom. He looked at Black Adam. As expected, the brute barely felt his punch, but his attention was on Doom, and not Queen Bee.

Everyone gasped. A few people said that Doom was dead. General Hinzir was in shock.

Black Adam let out a grunt. He extended the palm of his hand, and it hit Doom painfully on the chest. Doom was hurled across the room, crashing against several tables, and on to the opposing wall. The Latverian would have been dead if it were not for the force-field. However, the force-field was not strong enough to prevent wine from spilling on to his suit. Doom looked at the stain, and he scowled. His fist was engulfed in mystic energy.

"Begone you lowly cur!" and he shot out the blast at Black Adam. Fuelled by Doom's rage, it hit Black Adam in the chest, and hurled him against the wall and through it, making another hole. The mystical energy was unusually strong. Doom wondered if this universe allowed Horton cells to harness paranormal energies more efficiently than in his own native universe.

Doom got up and walked towards Queen Bee.

"Your majesty" he said, breathing heavily "It is best you leave to a safer location. I will deal with this animal myself"

Queen Bee looked at Doom, her eyes widened with shock.

Doom made the mental command, and his armor came out of hiding, attaching itself to his body. Ever since he had arrived in this universe, he had repaired his armor, at times fitting it with bits and pieces of the alien technology he had been working on wherever he had to. In a matter of seconds, he stood before Queen Bee donning his armor. He took out his green tunic and put it on, followed by his cloak and hood.

"WHOEVER WISHES TO CHALLENGE DOOM SHALL FEEL THE WRATH OF DOOM!" he said in a booming metallic voice.

Whichever soldiers were fit enough to stand huddled around Queen Bee to take her to safety. She slapped a captain in the face as she recovered her composure.

As Doom lifted off into the air, he heard Queen Bee order her soldiers to take her to a command center. She could watch all she wanted. His focus was now on Black Adam. He could see him with his scanners as he was soaring aimlessly in the sky.

Doom accelerated his flight, and within seconds, he was on the brute of Khandaq, delivering several punches to his face. After having received a barrage of such blows, Black Adam caught Doom's fist. He tried to crush Doom's hand, but the gauntlet, as was the rest of the armor, was made from adamantium, and it was hard to bend. But Black Adam did not let that stop him. He simply punched Doom in the face. The strength behind that strike was staggering, and even protected by his armor, Doom felt the pain.

And Black Adam was on Doom, giving him punch after punch. Doom hated to admit it to himself, but he was getting more than just winded. This man was at least as strong as Ben Grimm. Black Adam then grabbed Doom's cape and began swinging the Latverian around several times before hurling him down hard against the ground. Doom almost blacked out as he crashed down, creating a small crater. But he wasn't done yet. As the brute was diving down towards him, Doom stretched out his hand and blasted the man of Khandaq with a heavy concussive blast. Black Adam was hit hard, but he recovered his senses quickly, and continued his dive. A second before Black Adam reached the ground, Doom teleported a short distance away.

The move surprised Black Adam, who wounded up crashing on to the ground with violence. Black Adam was made of strong matter, and he stood up to look at Doom. He snarled and flew towards Doom at an incredible speed.

Doom found himself being rammed and then being crushed in an inescapable bear hug. The Latverian began generating an incredible amount of electricity, which stunned Black Adam enough to force him to release his grip on him. Doom then slipped away and gave him another blast, one that this time mixed his usual concussive blasts with his mystic blasts. Black Adam was hurled some distance away.

Black Adam shook his head as he plummeted away, but he regained command over his trajectory. Once again, he flew towards Doom. This time however, Doom teleported away as Black Adam was about to reach him. Once he was a safe distance away, Doom shot him with a mystic blast which hit the Khandaq marvel on his back. Black Adam yelled and turned to look at Doom. Again he charged, and once again, Doom teleported away, blasting at him from a safe distance.

Doom had now found a good strategy against Black Adam. Whatever fight the big man in black had been in before had robbed him of his good judgment; whenever he charged or attacked, Doom would teleport away to a safe distance and then blast him, either with mystic blasts, or with concussive blasts. At times, he would hit him with his force-field, in a manner similar to what the accursed Sue Storm would do to him.

In spite of this however, Black Adam was proving to be a truly difficult opponent to beat. The only way Doom could see of surviving a confrontation with this beast in human form was to keep his distance and keep blasting away – he was too strong for Doom to take in an actual physical fight. But even so, even after having been tired out by a previous fight, this Black Adam would not fall down. This required a different strategy.

Doctor Doom sped up his flight, flying downwards towards the ground below, letting gravity accelerate his mass. As he was about to hit the ground, he transported away, towards where he had started. He repeated the same action again. And he kept on repeating this over and over, making sure to not be caught within Black Adam's grasp, gathering momentum and acceleration. He had never used teleportation in this way before and this frequently – it wasn't safe – but this was a chance he had to take, especially against an opponent that could fight Thor.

And then he had it; all of the momentum, speed and acceleration he needed. He teleported himself in a path that led him straight towards Black Adam. With as much strength as he could muster, he punched Black Adam out of the atmosphere, while ramming him with the mass of his entire body, his force-field forming a wedge.

But that wasn't enough. Black Adam would recover from that. Doom followed Black Adam's trajectory. One of the additions he made to his armor since he had arrived to this world, was installing Zeta-Beam technology into it. Now, it wouldn't be used as it should, but it could be applied in a manner that was helpful at least. Now that the time was right, he could use the same technology that allowed people to go from one place to another in the blink of an eye, to generate a blast that could shove a man across the endless void of space. Doom blasted away and Black Adam was hurled at relativistic speeds into the darkness of space, voicing a soundless scream; he would not be returning to Earth very soon.

The sensation of pain was returning, and Doom's body was swamped in it. He returned to Earth and to Bialya, landing in the middle of a square within Al-Qawiya. People began to gather, saying things he didn't really care about.

Slowly, he pulled down his hood; then, he removed his helmet. It was then that he noticed Queen Bee, surrounded by several people, approaching him.

He smiled. As soon as she was close enough, he said to her, "I hope that you are safe"

Several doctors approached, but Doom quickly swatted them away. Certainly he was bruised and bleeding, but he could not under any circumstances allow a medical doctor to look at him.

* * *

This was, without a doubt, an awkward moment. Peter stood within the conference room of the Watchtower, facing several members of the Justice League. He was wearing his suit, but his mask was in his hand. He felt that this was more appropriate.

More awkward yet was the fact that Batman was in there, sitting and staring at him. Peter still wasn't afraid of him – anyone who knew better would know that bats aren't so scary – but his gaze was slightly unnerving. Besides, how do you talk to someone after you've beaten them up? Do you shake hands like chums and let bygones be bygones? He doubted that Batman would be capable of this.

Next to Batman sat a man who seemed familiar to Peter for some reason. He was dressed in blue, with a big red S on his chest. Peter knew who he was, as he had seen him on the news countless times; this was the famed Superman. Of course, that wasn't why Peter thought he was familiar. He was certain that he had seen that face somewhere before. Anyway, Peter thought that Superman seemed like a cross between Captain America and Thor.

Sitting next to Superman was Wonder Woman. Peter did his best not to look at her in an exceedingly adolescent manner. The three of them put together seemed to form a sort of trinity, or at least it seemed so to Peter. That didn't necessarily mean that the other heroes present were unimportant. One by one he had been introduced. He had seen Hawkman and Hawkgirl before, Plastic Man was funny to look at and well humored (although there was something very dark about him), Aquaman wasn't a jackass, so Peter wasn't at all reminded of the Sub-Mariner. The Flash looked and sounded like a crime scene investigator, for some reason. Sitting next to Black Canary was Green Arrow and his sidekick, the beard. There were other members, but these were the ones present. The Green Lanterns were out in space for some reason, and everyone else had their own problems.

Superman was the first to speak. "Mr. Parker, we've thought very carefully on your situation. We wish we could help you – it's not easy being in what amounts to a different world – however, with what we have now, it's difficult. Dr. Palmer has asked us if he could personally look into your case, and believe me, he's the best help you can expect to get. But I hope you understand that there are no magical solutions to your plight. For now, you're going to have to stay here, on this Earth. That doesn't mean you will be alone. We here at the Justice League are more than willing to help you out. We will have to find you a more stable lodging than the one you have now."

"You must however, respect our terms" Batman said, continuing where Superman had left off "You're strong and fast, and clearly experienced, but don't think that that means that I'm going to leave you unattended. You're still a young man prone to make the dumbest mistakes. I'm not saying that anyone older wouldn't make mistakes – I made my own with you, however, yours may lead to the most direst of consequences, as they already have, from what Black Canary has told me.

"On this Earth, most teenagers with powers become sidekicks, in order to learn with more experienced superheroes, or they don't become superheroes at all. Apart from Blue Beetle, I don't know of any other superhero who starts off on his own during his early adolescence. I want you on the team."

Peter blinked. He really wished he had his mask on right now.

"The team? What team, if you don't mind me asking?" Peter asked.

"A junior team, kid" said Green Arrow – or his beard, it was hard to tell "originally formed by our sidekicks. We think you'd do great in it. You're already an experienced superhero in your own world, why not bring that to the table?"

"Peter, you don't have to say yes" Black Canary said "But it would help you a lot more to have friends that have much in common with you."

Black Canary's reasoning was solid; Peter had to admit it to himself. The idea of joining a team however was weird. The only time he had ever thought of that was just before he met his first supervillain, the Chameleon, and had tried to become a member of the Fantastic Four. Since then, he had worked on his own, without any help whatsoever. But he did have to admit that there was a part of him that still wanted to belong to a superhero group like the Avengers. Being part of 'the team' sounded nice; he would just have to get over the 'junior' aspect of 'the team'.

"I think I can give it a shot" Peter said.

Superman smiled.

"Welcome aboard then. We'll call in Kaldur to make the proper introductions."

The process was cut short when an alarm started to blare out.

"I didn't touch anything" Peter said.

"Neither did I" Plastic Man said.

The Flash looked into the computer screen in front of him.

"This is disturbing" he said, displaying what was seen on his monitor through the holograph projector on the table. The image was that of Black Adam being shot out into the darkness of space by a mysterious figure.

The Flash didn't have to zoom in the picture for Peter to recognize who it was.

"Doctor Doom!" he exclaimed.

Batman looked at Peter, and then he looked at the Flash. "It seems we now know why you found nothing in Bialya Flash" he turned to look at Peter "How dangerous is he?"

Peter took a deep breath. "He's very dangerous. I've only fought him once or twice, but the Fantastic Four have always had problems with him. He once tried to get rid of them by blasting the Baxter Building – the building the Four use as a base – into space. Reed Richards told me that Dr. Doom was so arrogant as to challenge the gods themselves. This Earth is in serious trouble"

"We'll look into it" Batman said. The holographic image disappeared, and everyone got out of their seats. One by one, they quickly left, perhaps to find out what was going on with Dr. Doom. Batman was the only one to stay behind. He looked at Peter in the eye.

"Mr. Parker, you told me that you weren't afraid of me. That's good, but I'm afraid of you, which you should be concerned about. I was stupid when we first met, and I hope you'll accept my apologies for what transpired. You were trying to warn me about a pressing danger, and I brushed your attempts off rudely. Believe me, I am sorry. But if you get out of bounds and do something that gets anyone hurt, I will do my best to stop you. Even if it means that by doing so, I might die. I am not invincible Mr. Parker. And neither are you. And a presumption of power is the first step to downfall."

Batman left the room. Peter wondered why he needed the stupid batsuit, when his naked determination was enough to unnerve people.


	7. The Minds Of Men

**7**

**The Minds Of Men**

It was a normal day for the manager of Hub City National Bank, Melvin Tortilla. A short, stocky man, he always led a normal existence, and despite his rank within his workplace, he was usually seen as a normal man.

It was the beginning of the morning. The bank had just opened, and the first few people were beginning to enter. Melvin Tortilla sat behind his desk and began to do the usual paperwork that was expected of him. That was when he had another headache.

Melvin had been having these headaches for quite a while now. He had gone to the doctor, but no cause for them was ever found. Melvin led a normal, happy life that was relatively stress free, and he loved his job. There was no external reason for him to feel sharp headaches. The only other solution was that there was a problem with the brain itself – a fact that had terrified him and his family. But as luck would have it, his brain was fine. There were no tumors and no invasive parasites within it.

The normal man bent over his desk, hoping to cope with the pain until it went away, like it always did. But it was taking too long. Not only that, but the pain was getting worse, and then he heard it; a coarse voice bellowing at him.

"YOU FILTHY ANIMAL! DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!" it yelled out at him. Melvin looked around and to his horror, found no one there. With his hands shaking, he took out his gun, a present from his wife to deal with supervillains. He began waving it around, aiming it at empty air.

"DO IT! DO IT! DOIT! DO IT!" the voice began to yell, and he lost all control of himself, even of his thoughts.

Melvin rushed out of his office and into the large atrium in which most of the transactions were done. The tellers and security guards looked at Melvin in surprise. Rarely did he come out at this time, unless a client asked to see him.

A security guard approached Melvin, and quickly noticed the gun, and the wretched expression on his face.

"Mr. Tortilla? Are you alright?" the guard asked in a soothing tone of voice.

Suddenly, Melvin shoved the guard to the ground with a surprising amount of strength. He held up his gun, and shot three times at the ceiling.

"Everyone put your hands up! This is a hiccup!" he said to the stunned workers and clientele. Suddenly, the entire atrium was filled with smoke. Confused, Melvin looked around, still waving his gun in any direction.

And then the man appeared – the man with no face. Melvin tried to shoot at him, but the man was too close. Melvin was disarmed easily; he was knocked out by a single punch to the chin.

The faceless man looked at the fallen bank manager as the smoke began to dissipate.

"A normal, honest bank manager behaving like a common thug? Something foul is afoot" he said, before leaving the bank altogether.

* * *

The television was on, and what it was showing was foreboding. Good old G. Gordon Godfrey was on, once again spewing out his spiel. He was prancing about the stage of his studio, waving his arms dramatically.

"_Well ladies and gentlemen, for once I would like to present you all with good news, start the show on a good note. Of course, the world, being as it is, overrun with superpowered bullies who pass off as heroes, does not allow me to do that. Last night, this used to be a factory in which peanut butter was made, processed and bottled_" there was an image of a factory behind Godfrey "_Well guess what, your little children won't have yummy peanut butter in their sandwiches today, because last night, the masked vigilante called Arsenal burned it down, claiming that it was filled with a new drug called Metaplex. Of course, no such drug was found, if it even exists. I think it's all a scam made up by these so-called 'heroes' to give them excuses to wantonly burn things down. What is worse is the example that the juvenile superheroes give to our young_" Godfrey began to walk to his right, and the camera followed, showing a group of teenagers "_These youngsters here are the more recent victims of the misdeeds of the junior members of the League. Horribly misguided by their wretched example, these youngsters pumped themselves with drugs and other unspeakable abominations and attacked me, thinking that they'd do the world a favor, when in truth, they were serving a greater evil. Fortunately, these youngsters have been saved and redeemed by my own efforts and by the efforts of men such as Lex Luthor, who will not rest until the evils of such juvenile delinquents like Arsenal and that despicable spider…_"

The television was suddenly turned off. Arsenal, the vigilante mentioned, hurled the remote control away in anger. Peter looked up from his books, wondering what had just happened.

"Godfrey is a lying rat! He's now stooped to a new low. He knows that Metaplex exists and I found plenty of them in that factory!"

It was then that Peter noticed that the recreation room had people in it. Kid Flash was sitting on the couch, munching on Chicken Wizzies, and then dumping the contents of the bag it into his open maw. Kaldur'ahm was standing in the middle of the room, with his arms crossed over his chest.

"There is no need to act so violently. We all know how low that man can get" Kaldur said, trying to calm the archer down.

"Then why watch his show at all?" Arsenal asked, opening his arms in a gesture of disgust.

Kaldur place his hand on Arsenal's shoulder. "Because, we must know every nasty little thing that is being said about us. How are we to respond to our critics otherwise?"

"Did you really have to burn that place down?" Kid Flash asked.

"Yes I did!" Arsenal looked around and spotted Peter with his books "Who's the new guy?"

"That is Spider-Man. Spider-Man, meet Arsenal"

Peter got up and shook Arsenal's mechanic hand.

Arsenal looked at Peter from head to toe "Well, you certainly look like a spider"

"Yes I do. But you don't look like an arsenal. Why did you choose that name?" Peter asked.

"Because I'm not just an archer, I'm an arsenal of weapons. I think that's obvious" he said as he left the room, tapping his prosthetic arm.

Peter turned to Kaldur. "I'm glad that I didn't say that I thought that Arsenal was a poor choice of a name. In England, Manchester fans could kill him, if I understand my soccer facts correctly and the more obscenely minded might call him Arse-n-hole. So I hope he doesn't go to England with that name." Peter said, returning to his books, sitting on his still warm seat.

"What other name could he have? Red Arrow's already been taken" Kid Flash said.

Peter sat still for a moment. "Hawkeye" he said.

Kaldur looked at Peter with some concern. "Peter, should you be studying this hard for your exam?"

"You're the umpteenth person to ask me that, and the answer is yes. Most of the times, the sciences in our universes match, but in others, it just boggles me what this universe gets away with." He then pointed at Kid Flash "Like you"

"Slow down man, what do you mean?" Kid Flash asked.

"In my universe no physical being could run faster than the speed of light. From what I understand, you have to turn into energy yourself in order to do that. You and your grandfather (and that's something else that boggles me) can run that fast without losing your physical form. To you it's normal. To me, it's weird and breaks every rule I know. And that's why I have to soak up everything I can, so I don't end up being registered as mentally handicapped."

"I think you have understood enough of the scientific principles of this world to not be registered as mentally disabled. You should take a rest. Otherwise, you'll burn out, and then you'll be considered mentally handicapped." Kaldur said.

Peter closed the book he was reading.

"Fine. I'll take a rest. But only because you're asking politely. And an Atlantean being polite is very unexpected" Peter said, getting up.

Kaldur looked at Peter, baffled by his comment "Are the Atlanteans in your universe not courteous?"

"Do you even have Atlanteans?" Kid Flash asked.

"Yes we do have Atlanteans, and so far, they haven't been very nice. Most of them are blue except for Namor, the Sub-Mariner, who's half human and the closest thing to a hero the Atlanteans ever produced; and he started by tossing tourists off of the Statue of Liberty. He nearly destroyed New York if the Human Torch hadn't stopped him – well, the original Human Torch, who wasn't really human at all. He was in fact less human than Namor, if you look at it that way. It's a very long and complicated story that requires me to tell you about Horton cells, but right now, I need to keep that science out, and the science of this universe, in."

Peter turned to leave the recreation room. Kid Flash got up and ran to block his path in under a second.

"Hey, where are you going?" he asked "I thought that we might paint the town red or something"

"I'm sorry, but I can't. I need to go to the holographic training room. Maybe we can do that some other time" Peter said.

"Sure, no problem" Kid Flash said, moving out of Peter's way. The youthful hero from another Earth grabbed a satchel that was in the corner, and he walked out of the recreation room.

By now, Peter was familiar with the corridors within the immense space station. He changed into his suit, and quickly reached the holographic training room – nicknamed the kitchen (although Peter thought that Danger Room was a much better name), walking right in.

Before entering the training room proper, one had to set the programs within the control booth. Spider-Man quickly typed in the settings. Once that was done, he entered the training room.

Beneath his mask, he smiled. It might not have been real, but this holographic mock-up was the closest he would ever get to returning home. He stood within a representation of the New York that he knew so well. High above, Spider-Man could see billboards advertising for J. Jonah Jameson's Now magazine. He could see the Baxter Building, and even that idiot, the Human Torch flying about in stupid loops. Spider-Man could never thank the Martian Manhunter enough for this. If it hadn't been for the Martian's telepathic abilities, copying details directly from Spider-Man's memories into the computer, the young wall-crawler would never have had such a good facsimile.

There was a crash, and Spider-Man saw Doctor Octopus escaping from the police, carrying within one of his metallic tentacles a strange looking device. Spider-Man immediately sprung into action. The holographic Doc Ock tried to catch the web-slinger with his tentacles, but Spider-Man agilely dodged each one of them, eventually coming close enough to punch him in the nose.

Spider-Man's spider-sense alerted him to the pseudo-danger behind him. He leapt up and made a somersault just in time for one of Green Goblin's razor bats to strike the ground he had been standing on.

As Spider-Man was about to aim his web at the Goblin, the glider suddenly exploded as a bolt from a crossbow hit its belly. The Green Goblin was hurled down to the ground, and disappeared.

Spider-Man turned and to his amazement, he saw the girl from the library standing there, holding a pistol-sized crossbow in her hand. Oddly enough, she was wearing Huntress' costume. Or it could have been that Huntress was wearing the girl's head. For a second, as Spider-Man stood there in shock, looking at a girl he never thought he'd see again outside of hallucinations and dreams, he couldn't get it. And then it hit him.

Despite his spider-sense, he had been too stunned to realize that Dr. Octopus was still active, and so, the tentacled scientist had bopped him on the head. Of course, Spider-Man quickly turned, ripped off the holographic arms, and then punched Doc Ock in the face again.

The hologram of one of his most persistent enemies disappeared, and he turned to face Huntress, the girl from the library. He didn't know what to say.

"Hello" he said, waving his hand shyly "Fancy meeting you here, in this chunk of metal floating in space, and wearing a costume"

Huntress smiled "Well, I couldn't come here naked"

Spider-Man was really glad that he had a mask on his face. "No, of course you couldn't. That would be silly. And you're not silly" he leaned against the holographic wall of a holographic building "You're a mystery", he said, concluding.

Huntress rolled her eyes in a strange way of expressing pride. "My name is Helena, by the way"

Spider-Man's mind went back to the books on mythology his Uncle Ben had given him. The Trojan War was fought because of the breathtaking beauty of a woman named Helen. The name was certainly appropriate for the girl standing right in front of him.

"That's a beautiful name. Mine's Peter" Spider-Man said. In the back of his mind, he was well aware that he shouldn't just give out his real name like as if he were tossing out confetti in a ticker tape parade. However, the fact that the Justice League, and everyone else aboard this satellite had already known who he was before he had even met them had somewhat eased his concerns. He was never actually paranoid about his identity, but it had been imperative to keep it secret for Aunt May's sake. But she wasn't here, and this was another Earth in which Peter Parker did not exist. Peter still wondered how the League managed to connect his name to that of Spider-Man. He suspected that Dick Grayson was involved, or perhaps even Bette, but he wasn't certain which. Dick was the likeliest candidate to have leaked out his identity to the League – Peter just wondered what his connection was.

It was also a bit unfair. Everyone in the Watchtower knew his name, but he only knew the true identities of a few. He didn't even know if Superman had a secret identity, although he did behave as if he had one. And Batman was still a mystery.

Peter would have asked, but he didn't feel that he had the right to do so. Thus, he only knew the identities of those who had offered them up to him, like Dr. Ray Palmer, or Kaldur'ahm, or Bart Allen.

Or Helena.

"But for some reason, I think you already knew my name, even then, didn't you?" Peter said.

Helena shrugged.

"I saw you on my dad's computer. Well, I hacked into it, or rather, I trespassed and then I hacked into his computer" she said.

Peter gave Helena a questioning glare. Of course, she couldn't see it on account of his mask, but the body language was clear.

"How was I on your dad's computer?" Spider-Man asked. A sudden notion occurred to him that just seemed outlandish "Who's your dad?"

Helena stood there, suddenly on her tiptoes. She looked around aimlessly, avoiding Spider-Man's lenses.

"He's a very wealthy man" she finally said.

And that got the somewhat irregularly performing cogs in Peter's mind moving along. Why would a wealthy man have data concerning Peter within his computer? The only wealthy man that Peter had met was Bruce Wayne, in Gotham city – and wasn't it odd that a playboy billionaire philanthropist would take an interest in an unknown youth from out of town? He was the only one who knew that Peter Parker existed.

The realization came to him in an explosion of thought.

"Your dad's Bruce Wayne!" Spider-Man exclaimed. And then something else hit him "Your dad's Batman!" Peter knew that there was something fishy about the man "And that makes you Helena Wayne!" the web-slinger than scratched his head "But I've never read or heard anything about you. All of the newspapers and other such media say that Bruce Wayne is a bachelor"

The expression on Helena's face was that of someone trying to explain a complicated matter. "I'm Helena Wayne now, but I wasn't a few days ago. My dad didn't know I existed until a bit recently. My mom has a difficult past with which to deal with. Dad only found out recently. Mom told me about a year ago. I was shocked as well. Of course, she never lied to me. I was always told that my dad was a mysterious knight – and she was right."

"You must have had a lot on your mind" Peter said, as he removed his mask. It was strange taking off his mask like this, in front of Helena, but it seemed proper. Besides, like everyone else, she clearly knew who he was. Keeping the mask on would be stupid.

"I have as much as anyone else" she said shrugging just slightly.

"So, did your dad tell you to come here, or are you here for the free tour of space?" Peter asked.

"There's a free tour? Dammit, I knew that I had been cheated" she said mockingly "but yeah, my rich and creepy daddy got me up here. Apparently I'm too dangerous to be left alone. Mom agreed with it, so I don't see much of a point fighting it. I do get to meet interesting people though. Yesterday I was introduced to Superman, and boy, it's weird how a man can conceal his identity with a pair of glasses"

"WHAT?" Peter said, his eyes so large that they almost seemed to bulge out of their sockets. He stomped the ground so hard that the holographic illusion of New York began to flicker. It all clicked within his mind. The reporter, Clark Kent, who had been sitting next to Bruce Wayne "I was fooled by a pair of glasses? I used to wear glasses, and I still had to wear this mask! Oh good grief! This universe is driving me insane" Peter put his hands on Helena's shoulders and looked at her pleadingly "Please tell me that the glasses are super-scientific devices capable of altering the features of a man within the mind of the person looking at the man"

Helena winced. "I'm sorry. I think they're ordinary glasses."

Peter's shoulders slumped. "I'll continue with my delusion, if you don't mind"

"Okay" Helena said.

Peter put his mask back on. "I need to grab something to eat. Would you be interested in joining your friendly neighborhood wall-crawler for a chili dog in the cafeteria? I have enough money to…" and then Spider-Man began to pat the places where his pockets would be "… pay you absolutely nothing at all. It's a good thing that the food in the cafeteria is free. And it's good too"

Helena held out her arm.

"It's a date then, you very lucky boy"

* * *

Lex Luthor sat in silence, watching the news on the television. What was shown was not to his liking. Azraeuz and three other Apokoliptian warriors were tearing Khandaq apart, slaughtering thousands of people. The anchorwoman called them the four riders of the Apocalypse. Luthor didn't like that at all.

The newscast ended with Black Adam engaging the four riders in furious battle. The last image was that of the Khandaq marvel breaking Azraeuz's neck and then ripping his head out. After that, the image became blank.

Luthor took a deep breath and began thinking of solutions to the problem created by Queen Bee's inability to control their Apokoliptian allies.

"This is a problem, don't you agree Luthor?" asked the man standing next to Luthor

"This was to be expected" he said, without even looking at the scarred immortal "We all knew what Darkseid was capable of, and that his people were unstable at the best of times. We must simply show ourselves their betters"

"Yes of course. Still, we must be more prepared than we are now. I'm certain that Queen Bee thought herself to be prepared to deal with those monsters" Vanda Savage said.

"I'm working on a solution" Luthor said.

"You're referring to the MR-16?" Savage asked "Do you have full control of its effects?"

Luthor smiled. Any man would find the smile hard to read. It could be a smile of satisfaction. Or a fake one meant to hide the fears of the man smiling. "New studies have yielded interesting results"

"You sound like a commercial Luthor" Savage grumbled "I hope your affirmation isn't as vapid as the ones on television. This entire incident hasn't just alerted the League – it has cost us a valuable ally" Savage said.

"Black Adam is not dead" Luthor said.

Savage grunted "No, merely sent across the stars by Queen Bee's new toy – a man I know nothing about."

"Queen Bee's paramour does present an interesting question, but he is of little importance in the grand scheme of things" Luthor said. Now he was clearly lying to Savage. This new man in Queen Bee's life did bother him greatly. Every agent Luthor had were employed in the arduous task of digging as much dirt as possible about the mystery man. So far, nothing had been discovered – only garbled incidents which could not be proven conclusively.

Vandal Savage growled.

"Luthor, we both agree that humanity must evolve to a higher state and that the supposed heroes of this world, by defending the weak and helpless, are grinding this progress to a halt. We must however, have an eye on our allies. Find something better than the MR-16."

* * *

Spider-Man sat by the window of the bio-ship. He looked at the people with him, and wondered if he had made a serious mistake in accepting the League's offer. He had been lumped up with the younger members, even though the Team and the League were theoretically the same thing. Of course, he could understand why this had happened. He was himself young and they knew it. What was strange was that ever since Uncle Ben had died, Peter never felt very young. He didn't feel like a child. Even less so when he put on his mask. He was Spider-Man, not Spider-Boy – none of his enemies were aware of how young he was. The Green Goblin probably thought that he was in his mid-twenties. But these young superheroes he was with, did seem young despite their experience. Spider-Man wouldn't certainly call Kaldur'ahm a child – as a matter of fact, Aqualad was older by a few years – but Beast Boy, Blue Beetle and Lagoon Boy did seem like kids – in spite of the fact that they were close in years. Kid Flash was hard to read. He was always joking, always hyper-active, but he had been told by Blue Beetle that that was all an act – including the speedster's constant use of the words 'crash' and 'mode'.

As this was her ship, and she was the team leader M'Gann was behind the controls, her hands on two glowing orbs. Spider-Man wondered if she was using her telepathy. Sitting directly in front of him was Beast Boy. On the other side were Static and Huntress. They were team beta, apparently, charged with checking out Hub City, which Kid Flash immediately classified as a dump. While team Alpha, made up of Kaldur, Batgirl, Blue Beetle, Superboy, Kid Flash and Wondergirl checked out the arctic, in search of several remains of the Reach, team beta was out investigating the odd behavior of the citizens of Hub City – which Kid Flash had classified as a dump. Maybe there was no paranormal explanation needed – dumps breed weirdoes. It was a known fact. But then, New York had a plethora of supervillains, while New Jersey was unscathed. Spider-Man's ego had been shaken by the fact that he was on the beta team, and not the Alpha one. It was something that he would have to deal with.

"Are you okay?" M'Gann asked, suddenly.

Spider-Man wasn't even aware that she was talking to him until Beast Boy said, "She was talking to you dude"

"I'm sorry. I'm fine. This situation is weird for me. I'm in a spaceship with a bunch of superpowered kids fighting crime in a city I know nothing about. I'm getting overwhelmed" Spider-Man said.

"Nightwing would probably say whelmed" Huntress commented.

"What does that mean anyway?" Static asked raising his hand.

"To cover up. The word whelm is from the Middle English whelmen which meant to capsize, turn over, and bring to ruin. It's such an unusual word nowadays, I don't know why Nightwing keeps using it" Huntress said.

"He's just like that. I think he likes the wordplay" M'Gann said.

Curiously enough, it was Beast Boy, who Spider-Man thought had the shortest attention span, who got things back on track.

"Aren't you a superpowered kid fighting crime?" the green boy asked.

"You should tell that to the jokers that are always trying to kill me" Spider-Man said "But this" he said, raising his hands towards the ceiling of the ship "Seems unusual to me. When I'm out there, fighting the good fight, I don't feel like a kid, or even extraordinary, although at times, I love being stronger and faster than the guys trying to stick a knife in my back, and I love swinging on my webs. Despite that, everything seems normal to me, not a reenactment of latest episode of Star Trek, and in a strange way, I feel mundane. And now I feel weird, like I'm in a show I shouldn't be in. It's unsettling to say the least."

"You feel like a cowboy in a caveman movie, is that what you're trying to say?" Static asked.

That wasn't quite it. He couldn't tell them that at times he saw them all as kids and not as capable superheroes that were mostly of his age. He noticed the Huntress gazing at him with piercing blue eyes. He was glad that he had his mask on.

"Peter, this is a new world for you. The rules by which you lived by in your home might not apply. Believe me, I know what that's like" M'Gann said "It will pass, you'll see."

"Besides, isn't it good to be in a spaceship?" Huntress asked.

"Well, I've been in the Fantasticar" Spider-Man said. Everyone just looked at him, clueless.

"It was nice, at the time" the web-slinger assured them.

Soon, they were flying above Hub City, and Spider-Man could see that what had been said about it was absolutely true. Seen from above, it looked like a dark dump a mockery of what New York was. Indeed, the brightest streets the wall-crawler could see made Gotham's darkest alleys seem safe in comparison. It was as if a man disciple of Ayn Rand had designed the city to assure that people lived in the proper, might is right way.

The bio-ship began to slow down over what seemed like a park, if it the trees weren't all dried up and dead, and the grass withered away. Slowly, the alien vessel made its descent. Spider-Man was surprised that the ship wasn't being mobbed.

"The people in this city must be jaded to not care about an alien ship landing in this barren lot" the wall-crawler said.

"He doesn't know!" Beast Boy said jokingly.

"Know what? Am I in a wiener ship now?"

"The ship is cloaked right now. I forgot to tell you guys. Sorry." M'Gann said turning her head from Spider-Man to Huntress.

"Well, that should solve some problems" Huntress said "Like being able to sniff out a trap before we fall into it"

"You don't think the bat's intel isn't good?" Static asked

"It's pretty good, but why would the mayor of Hub City ask us to solve their current problem? Don't they have a police force? Don't they have their own superhero?" Huntress said

"You mean that faceless guy?" Static asked.

"I'm sure that the mayor has her own reasons not to ask help from the Question. I'll ask her, but in the meantime, we do our jobs" Miss Martian said.

Spider-Man had to agree on some level with Huntress, and not just because she was a pretty face. He remembered the debriefing shortly before this mission. Kaldur had told them all that the mayor of Hub City had requested the League's help in investigating the strange occurrences within her city: people were beginning to behave in an unusual way, even for Hub City. This could easily be a trap, although this would be the sort of thing the Fantastic Four would look into. So far, his spider-sense wasn't tingling.

"They're already here" M'Gann said as the ship touched down. Spider-Man looked at the image on the view-screen. A woman with short red hair stood at the edge of the park, surrounded by several large, thuggish looking men.

"Is that her?" Beast Boy asked.

"Oh yes it is" M'Gann replied.

_**I'll keep us all connected. Huntress does have a point, after all**_, M'Gann said telepathically.

Spider-Man winced. Even after he had been coached by Martian Manhunter and M'Gann herself, he still found this a bit intrusive. His spider-sense was buzzing in the back of his head.

The bio-ship's hatch opened and the five youths walked out to meet the mayor. Spider-man looked around, apprehensively. Astonishingly, there was no one to witness this, and yet, to him, it seemed that this was happening out in the open.

Miss Martian greeted the mayor of Hub City in the usual manner of handshakes and polite smiles.

"It's an honor to meet you" the mayor said, as she shook hands with the beta team "I didn't think that any member of the League would come to help us out."

"The League is always at everyone's service whenever we can Mayor Fermin" M'Gann said "Could you please elaborate on what you said to the League? That the people of this city were acting strange?"

Mayor Fermin nodded "It happened a few weeks ago. We didn't notice it at first. The first case was of a bank manager who tried to stick up his own bank. Sometime later, a few doctors started dancing around in tutus; police officers were throwing custard pies at people, and other such things. We just thought that it was madness. This city can be quite mad at times. We don't need the Joker. But as the days went by, more and more people began acting up."

"Could it be the water?" Spider-Man asked, looking around, and not expecting much from this city's hygiene. In any case, it was always the water.

"Nothing toxic was found within the bodies of those infected. And that's why this is so strange. People are just acting up and we can't figure out why. I can't rely on my own police force because of this"

_**And other reasons I bet**_, Static thought out, _**I've read about this place.**_

_**Now's not the time**_, M'Gann silently replied. "I think I see why I was sent here" she said "With no physiological proof that anything has affected these people, than it could, possibly, be of telepathic origin"

_**Do you feel anything?**_, Huntress asked.

_**I can feel it very well. There's a powerful telepath here in this city**_, M'Gann replied

_**Psimon?**_, Beast Boy asked.

_**No, this is different**_, M'Gann replied. She looked at Mayor Fermin straight in the eye, and said "Mayor, we'll look into this with care and discretion"

"Hey!" Beast Boy said, interrupting M'Gann and the mayor "Don't you have a superhero here to investigate?"

Mayor Fermin looked at the boy with unease. "I would rather not rely on the Question" and her face went slightly red.

Spider-Man felt a bit queasy. He didn't have much experience fighting against telepaths. He honestly didn't know if he could withstand them. He hoped that whatever problem this city was having was caused by someone he could punch.

The wall-crawler turned his head as his spider-sense alerted him to danger. Someone with bad intentions was hiding amidst the dead trees. He was about to face whatever danger there was, when he noticed the screams behind him.

He turned to see the other members of the team, even M'Gann, clutching their heads in pain.

"What happened?" Spider-Man asked, still staying alert to what was going on in the trees.

"What was that?" Huntress asked wincing and scowling.

It took a few seconds for Spider-Man to realize that his spider-sense had been felt by the others through Miss Martian's mental link. He was surprised to see them all so shaken up. This was one of the more normal jolts he received.

"That's my spider-sense. It goes off whenever there's trouble. And it's telling us we've got trouble. Madam Mayor, you should leave" the wall-crawler said.

Before the mayor could take a step, several men emerged from the cover of dead vegetation. Everything about them was gaudy. Their hair was brightly colored, and their faces were painted. Their outfits were a bedlam of color.

It was the craziest thing Spider-Man had ever seen in his life.

"Who are those people?"

"They're Madmen" Huntress said.

"I asked who they were, not what they were" Spider-Man said as he leapt towards them, and drop kicked two. Spider-Man webbed the face of one of the Madmen, pulled the web, and then slammed his body against another Madman. "Believe me Mister, this only hurts because right now, you're hurting my eyes and my sense of good taste" another Madman tried rushing Spider-Man, but the wall-crawler leapt over him, grabbed him by the arm, and threw him like a club at several of the other Madmen. It seemed strangely appropriate for Spider-Man to fight these villains, and he didn't know why. Even in their tasteless gaudiness, they seemed familiar to him.

Static held off the others with his electric discharges, while Beast Boy turned into a bear, and fought the others. Huntress used her bare hands, delivering punches and the usual karate chops at the Madmen. Miss Martian used her telekinesis, and an extra pair of arms.

In very short time, the Madmen were on the ground, knocked out and defeated. Miss Martian approached one, and studied him closely.

_**These men are under someone else's control**_, M'Gann thought out to the others.

_**Do you know who might be controlling them?**_, Huntress asked

_**It's very well hidden, and if I digged deeper, I might cause permanent damage**_, M'Gann thought out, before falling silent for a moment. The Martian got up and made a quick scan of the mayor and her bodyguards.

They were safe, for now.

"Mayor Fermin, I need you to go somewhere safe. Now" she said.

"Are things that bad?" the mayor asked.

"They could be" Beast Boy cut in.

Spider-Man was distracted by his spider-sense. Since M'Gann had now shielded herself against it, the others didn't feel what the web-slinger felt; and what he felt was his spider-sense alerting him to a presence beyond the woods.

The wall-crawler didn't even think twice. He broke out into a quick sprint and was soon upon the man. The man acted quick enough to release a nauseous gas upon the web-slinger; Spider-Man managed to recover quickly, but not quick enough to stop the man from getting into a car and driving off. Without delay, Spider-Man ran after the man. He heard Huntress calling him from behind, but he couldn't let the man get away.

The car was incredibly fast, and Spider-Man was already having problems keeping up on foot; once there were enough tall structures around, Spider-man began his trademark web-slinging.

Between ugly gray edifices Spider-Man swung, getting closer to the fast car with each swing. His spider-sense quickly alerted him to the odd tube coming out of the car's ceiling, with its end following the wall-crawler's trajectory. A beam of energy came out, but Spider-Man curled his body upwards just in time to avoid the blast. Another blast severed the web-slinger's web-line. Spider-Man twisted and turned and landed on the trailer of a nearby truck, itself moving at perhaps too much speed itself.

Spider-Man ran along the truck's trailer and leapt off of the cab, once again swinging through the streets of Hub City in pursuit of the fast car. Finally, with one bound and leap, Spider-Man was on the car itself. He grabbed a portion of the car's top and ripped it off. There were two men inside. The driver didn't seem to react to the fact that Spider-Man had just turned the car he was driving into a semi-convertible. The other was a man with madness in his eyes.

"Hey there guys. I was passing by, and I noticed your groovy, swinging car – a convertible no less – and I was wondering if I could join you for a chat over milk and cookies" Spider-Man said.

The passenger just screamed. Spider-man's spider-sense hit him hard, and his mind suddenly began to swim around madly. He was aware of his hands on his head, of falling down from the car on to the street. He saw Dr. Octopus, the Green Goblin, Mr. Big and the Enforcers, and a blond girl falling from a bridge. The buildings began to sway with the wind as if they were blades of grass, and the sky was purple. He felt hands on his mind, putting everything back together. And then, he found himself sitting on the sidewalk, his back against a lamppost, rubbing his aching head, and looking at Miss Martian.

"What just happened?" he said.

"You went off alone and you got attacked by a telepath" he heard the Huntress say.

Spider-Man turned to look at her; behind her were Static and Beast Boy, who was perched on Static's shoulder in the shape of an owl.

"Oh brother! That was very bad!" he said, rubbing his head harder.

"You'll get better. But we'll have to stick together if you don't want to suffer another attack like this" Miss Martian said. She then turned to the others "All of us will have to stick together. Especially you Gar. This definitely isn't Psimon."

"Do you know who it is now? Do you have a clue?" Static asked.

"No. Not yet" Miss Martian said.

"Well, he hurt my pride. And my brain. I have a score to settle with him" Spider-Man said, getting up on his two feet, quickly recovering. He was especially sore that in a situation that he felt he could handle himself, he found himself on his bottom, in a sidewalk. This wasn't the first time he needed help of course, but this was the first time he was integrated within a team. Spider-Man looked around and saw that the street was oddly empty of traffic. He had to assume that M'Gann had something to do with that.

"We all do" M'Gann said.

"Now all we have to do is find him" Huntress said, looking at the street for clues.

"That won't be necessary"

Everyone looked and saw a man in a fedora and trench coat coming out of the nearby darkness. He seemed normal, except that he had no face. Spider-Man was unsettled at first, as were Beast Boy and Static. Huntress had her face frozen in a snarl. Only M'Gann seemed unimpressed. But then, she was a shape-shifter. And she moved towards the faceless man as if she knew him. Or at least, knew who he was.

"This is the Question" she said, turning to the others. She then turned to the faceless man "Do you know what's going on?" Miss Martian asked.

"I have an idea" the Question walked towards Spider-Man "It's strange, but I feel a strange affinity with you. Almost as if we were brothers"

"I don't see the similarities" Spider-Man said, staring at the faceless man.

"Oddly enough, I do" Question said "The man you were chasing in such a thrilling manner was Dr. Arbie Twain, a rival of a friend of mine. He's been involved in some strange events as of late. He's been hiring trucks and he had an antenna built not far from here. No one's taken note of it, which has been odd. I have no doubt he's involved in a strange string of events which have lead honest men and women to commit crimes. I hate it when the wicked use the good for their foul ends."

"Maybe he's just nudging people predisposed towards crime. You know, those people with more gray in them" Static said.

Question suddenly turned to the youth "That doesn't exist. You're either good or bad. Criminals should not be allowed a justification for their actions by a smudge of gray."

"I don't want to ever see you near me or my family" Huntress said with some irritation.

Miss Martian immediately cut in. "Do you know where we can find Arbie Twain?"

"Of course. I'll take you to his antenna" Question said.

* * *

They stared at the antenna from the top of a nearby, abandoned building. It was on an almost barren plot of land; next to it was an abandoned apartment building, the only other thing occupying the area.

It was an unsettling sight, to say the least.

"It's like a bad horror movie" Static said.

"Come on! It's just an abandoned building" Beast Boy said

But Spider-Man knew that it wasn't just an abandoned building. His spider-sense was telling him the opposite, actually.

"Are you picking anything up?" Huntress asked. This actually startled the wall-crawler. No one ever asked him if his spider-sense was acting up.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. We have to check out that building" he said, surprised by his own readiness in being a part of this team. The psychic attack hadn't shaken him up that badly. He was getting used to these people around him.

It was harder to get used to the Question, who walked forward. "Twain must be up to something in there, in conjunction with that antenna. Perhaps something that will enhance whatever telepathic ability he has to encompass the entire city, allowing for a better grip on people's minds. It's almost like a cartoon, but it makes sense, given what's been occurring, that he would need an enhancer"

What the Question had said made sense, and Spider-Man found that unnerving, as well as the fact that he now felt a strange affinity for this man.

Spider-Man was about to make a leap, when he heard M'Gann's voice in his head.

_**Don't rush in like that. I know it's worked for you plenty of times before, but in cases like these, we need to be more careful**_, she thought out. _**Besides, I need to prepare your mental shield. All of your mental shields.**_

"That's not just what's bothering you, is it?" Huntress said.

"I think someone else might be involved" M'Gann said. Before Beast Boy could say a word, she said "Definitely not Psimon."

"So what's the plan?" Static asked.

M'Gann turned to Huntress. "Are you as good a detective as your father?"

Huntress's eyes rolled around, as if someone had pulled her shirt up.

"I'm pretty good" she said "I'm like my mom too, you know"

"Your dad's a detective?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yes he is" M'Gann said "I need you to look into Arbie Twain's business transactions and everything else he's connected to. You can take my bio-ship"

"Sure, I'll just take a nice stroll to the park…" Huntress said, until the bio-ship appeared, flying over their heads. Huntress looked up, spent a few seconds in silence, and continued, "I'll get to it right now."

She turned to Spider-Man. "Spidey, mind giving me a boost?"

"I'd do anything for you gorgeous" Spider-Man said. He put his hands together, and once Huntress had her foot in, and was ready, hurled her upwards towards the opening within the ship. As soon as the aperture closed, the bio-ship was off.

"She knows how to fly that thing, right?" Static asked.

"She knows" M'Gann said. She looked around. "Where's the Question?"

"He must have slipped away" Beast Boy said.

M'Gann sighed. "We don't have the time to look for him. Static, I want you outside; Spider-Man, I want you to go inside and find out what Twain's up to. Beast Boy, stay close to Spider-Man. I'll stay here in case whoever it is that's causing this decides to attack"

Spider-Man looked at the green boy. "Let's go kid" he leapt away from the building, followed by a green sparrow. He quickly reached the apartment building and began to climb up its walls, entering through a windowless aperture. In the form of a house cat, Beast Boy dropped by his side. They were in an empty apartment. Nothing was in it, not even an old doll or crumpled newspapers. The doors were gone as well. It seemed that the apartment building wasn't just abandoned – it had never been finished to begin with.

"Why do the bad guys always chose such horrible places to hide out in?" Spider-Man asked out loud.

"Bad guys go well with bad places, because they have bad taste" Beast Boy said, following it up with a meow.

"Comedy is a very hard business kid" Spider-Man said. He began investigating every room, and every apartment, hoping that his spider-sense would pick up anything of interest. It was Beast Boy's dog sense – which he had once he had taken the form of a pit-bull – that lead them to something interesting. Beast Boy let out a bark and ran down the stairs. Spider-Man went right after him.

"Yes boy! We have to save Timmy before he climbs out of the well!" Spider-Man said.

"That's supposed to be good comedy?" Beast Boy remarked.

"It's better than the stuff you get in Vegas" replied Spider-Man, as they both entered the apartment.

Upon entering, Beast Boy turned into a baboon, while Spider-Man proceeded forward.

This apartment wasn't empty. The light was on, showing that the building was connected to the city's power grid, and pouring out of several light bulbs hanging haphazardly from the ceiling. There was a desk, with a computer turned on, but little else.

Slumped in a chair, was the man who had given Spider-Man the psychedelic experience, Arbie Twain.

"Okay Twain, you've got a lot of explaining to do" Spider-Man said, until he noticed that Twain was staring blankly at the ceiling. The web-slinger immediately checked the man's pulse.

"Is he, you know…" Beast Boy began to ask.

"He's alive" Spider-Man said, with a bit of relief. He took a deep breath and concentrated. He wasn't used to doing this.

_**M'Gann, are you seeing this?**_, he thought out to the Martian girl.

_**Clearly**_, she replied through thought, _**I had a feeling he was just a pawn. I'm going to look closer into him. **_

There was a moment of pause.

_**He has telepathic potential, that's for sure**_, said the Martian, _**but it seems he may have messed with something he couldn't handle. I can't read any more from him. It's very well shielded.**_

_**So it's still not Psimon**_, Spider-Man thought out.

_**I wonder if you're as bad as Gar**_, Miss Martian thought, _**and no, it's still not Psimon.**_

"Hey, there's a note here on the keyboard" Beast Boy said. Spider-Man quickly picked it up and held it up to the light. The letter had the following:

COULDN'T WAIT FOR YOU GUYS. GOOD LUCK.

_**Well, this must be from the Question**_, Spider-Man thought to M'Gann, _**it would have been nice if he could tell us where he went.**_

_**Just like you**_, M'Gann commented, _**Huntress is already on it. She should be able to find out something.**_

Suddenly, the spider-sense began to call out to the wall-crawler. He was surrounded by danger.

_**M'Gann, what's going on?**_ There was no answer from the Martian.

"Is there anything wrong?" Beast Boy asked.

"You can bet your life on it. My spider-sense is tugging me in every direction" Spider-Man said.

"I'd rather not bet my life" Beast Boy said, taking the form of a jaguar.

A man with a gun entered the apartment. He aimed at Spider-Man, but he was too slow. The web-slinger rushed him and knocked him out with a jab to the chin. Another man came in, but the green jaguar pounced and knocked him out with his green paw.

"Static was right. This is a bad horror film." Spider-Man began to look around "Where's the dumb blond when you need her?" the web-slinger looked out and saw a lot of people running through the corridors towards them.

"Where did all these people come from?" Spider-Man said as he kicked the first man towards those behind, knocking them over like dominoes. He rushed Beast Boy into the apartment and webbed up the opened entrance. He could have easily fought all of those people, but he felt that there was no time to waste, especially since M'Gann hadn't made contact. And no one knew what would happen if he got bitten. He didn't need the powers of a telepathically enslaved man.

"Grow some feathers kid, we're going out the window" he said to the green boy. Beast Boy quickly turned into a falcon and flew out the window.

Spider-Man leapt out of the window, and shot out a line; what he saw as he swung downwards amazed him. A crowd of people were surrounding the building, like a mindless mob of zombies. Static was floating nearby on a manhole cover, using his electromagnetism to drive people away. The sight of Static flying on the circular piece of metal reminded Spider-Man of the Green Goblin. He quickly shook that memory away.

"Static, what's going on?" he yelled at the electromagnetic youth.

"I don't know. They just came out of nowhere" Static said, letting a stream of electricity come out of his fingers and hit the attackers below. Spider-Man had been assured before that Static knew how to control his powers. He had to trust the youth; he wasn't Electro. Spider-Man swung towards a wall of the apartment building, looking down on the crowd. As he was on the wall, his head pointing at the ground, staring at the mindless mass, he envied Static's powers.

"What happened to M'Gann?" Beast Boy asked.

"She's over there" Static said, pointing upwards. M'Gann was floating up in the air, her body as stiff as a board, her eyes glowing.

"Is she alright?" Spider-Man asked.

Beast Boy had taken the form of a hummingbird, and he hovered close to the wall-crawler. "She must be locked in a telepathic fight"

A man with a gun stuck his head out of one of the windows. Before he could point it at Spider-Man, the web-slinger hurled a web at his face. The man disappeared back into the building.

"How long does she usually take?" Spider-Man asked.

"It depends on how strong the other telepath is." Beast Boy said

"That's nice to know" Spider-Man said. He turned to look at the building's other windows. More people were sticking their heads out. Spider-Man began shooting webs at them, and closing the apertures. "It's always a joy dealing with living breathing zombies, and not the mad robots or pirate Nazis. Or dinosaurs. This scenario really needs dinosaurs to make it perfect"

Spider-Man leapt down to the ground where the other mind-controlled people were, and immediately started punching and kicking. Beast Boy and Static followed suit; the green changeling turned into a gorilla and Static shot out electric bolts and charged punches. The web-slinger grabbed two mind-controlled thugs and knocked their heads together. He then webbed up the entrance of the apartment building, trapping those that were already inside.

A mind-controlled man in a wife-beater threw a punch at Spider-Man's jaw. The wall-crawler didn't duck or block the punch. He took it in the jaw.

"Is that the best you got?" Spider-Man asked, not at all impressed with the man's strength. Spider-Man gave the guy a quick right hook that left him on the floor.

Spider-Man opened his arms at the other zombies. "Come on boys! Who's next? I've got enough for everyone here"

That was when the mind-controlled human puppets came out of their spell. They blinked and looked at each other, and the surrounding area in confusion.

Miss Martian descended down in front of the others.

"So, did you win? Do you know who it is?" Beast Boy asked, turning back into a boy.

"I won, but he's tough. I still don't know who he is" she said. Then turning to the confused people, she said, "Please stay calm, you've been through a rough experience. Stay put and the proper authorities will come to get you". She then transmitted the same message to the people inside the apartment building. She turned to her team "They should be fine. Huntress has called help. And she also has an address"

The bio-ship appeared above them, and lowered down.

"We have to hurry" M'Gann said. They all entered the ship, which destroyed the antenna before moving along.

* * *

The trip was quick, no longer than five minutes. The bio-ship was soon hovering over a rundown radio station which had an antenna next to it.

"Another antenna?" Static exclaimed.

"Yes, another one. Arbie Twain has been very active lately, buying antennas, building antennas. It's as if the man had a fetish." Huntress said, back in her previous seat.

"He didn't. Someone else needed an antenna; Arbie most likely absorbed that in, and his mind took it as a need to create antennas all over the city."

"How do you know that this is the antenna to rule them all, and in the darkness bind them?" Spider-Man asked.

"Twain invested a lot more money in this old radio station, and it was early on, before his spending and activities became more erratic" Huntress explained.

"And I can feel our enemy in there" Miss Martian said. "He's strong, so I going to have to stay here and make sure he doesn't mess with your minds."

"We're going to have to use our fists then" Huntress said, looking at the view-screen that showed several Madmen walking around the old station.

"It's what we do so well. And I like the way you use your fists" Spider-Man said

"Always the charmer" Huntress said.

The bio-ship's hatch opened, and all four of the young heroes jumped down. A green eagle attacked the first Madman he saw, while Spider-Man landed in such a way as to give two of them two diving punches simultaneously. Static again used his electromagnetic abilities and Huntress landed down like an acrobat, and immediately began kicking and punching the Madmen that came at her.

Beast Boy turned into a cape buffalo and rammed the front doors of the station, knocking them down.

_**Be quick**_, Miss Martian thought out, _**I can feel that we need to hurry**_.

Beast Boy, Static and Spider-Man rushed in, but Huntress stayed behind. The web-slinger stopped and looked back at her.

"You don't want to join the fun?" he asked.

"I want to check something out first" she said.

Spider-Man nodded and he entered with the other two. More Madmen were inside, but they were all easily taken care of, either with shock treatment, paws and jaws, or just good old fashioned punching.

The wall-crawler soon kicked down the control room door. He froze as he saw what stood there before him, next to several improvised control consoles. It was a very large gorilla, scarred by Kobra-Venom with a helmet on its head.

"Well, it seems that you've found me" the gorilla said "But you won't stop me, not even with the help of your Martian friend."

"Who are you?" Spider-Man suddenly blurted out.

The gorilla scowled and bared his teeth.

"As I expected, you're as stupid as the other Neanderthal. He thought that he could increase his abilities by tapping into mine. I made him regret it. And I'll make you regret the day you ever met Grodd, you filthy animal" the gorilla said with a growl.

_**Gorilla Grodd!**_, M'Gann thought out, _**I wondered what had happened to you.**_

"Well Martian interloper, you'll pay the price for you negligence. My work is already completed!" Grodd said out loud. He suddenly banged his fist on a big red button on one of the consoles.

Nothing happened. Spider-Man didn't even feel the familiar tingling.

"I wish Kid Flash was here. I've been telling him about the differences between this universe and my own, and here's one big difference: the talking gorillas in my universe aren't evil! Agents of Atlas forever!"

Grodd then roared and with one arm he yanked a control console from out of the floor, and hurled it at the young heroes. Spider-Man leapt towards the ceiling, Beast Boy turned into a sparrow and Static just got out of the way, as the console crashed down.

"Are you angry Grodd?", Huntress' voice could be heard through the intercom "You're not very smart yourself since it was easy for me to sabotage your little device on the antenna. Haven't you ever heard of backups?"

Grodd growled. "You filthy animals! I hate you all! I was about to conquer this stinking world and make it a paradise for all apes. A planet of apes! And then you had to interfere! You're dead! You're all dead!"

Beast Boy turned into a gorilla and he soon began to wrestle with Grodd. The telepathic ape however, had the upper hand, and he tossed Beast Boy aside.

"You can never compete with the real deal you waste of skin!" Grodd snarled. Static hurled out a jolt that slammed Grodd against the wall. The gorilla recovered quickly, ripping up a console that had been bolted to the ground and hurling it at Static, who had to take cover.

Spider-Man leapt from the ceiling. "I don't mean to be a spoil sport here, but according to modern cladistics, humans are apes. What you wanted is already real" Grodd tried to punch Spider-Man, but missed. "You're supposed to be smart, right Grodd? You shouldn't turn the world into something that it already is. It's a waste of time. Just relax and eat some nachos" Spider-Man then gave Grodd an uppercut that had the large primate on the ground.

"That's what happens when you're not a science major!" Spider-Man said.

Static and Beast Boy came to look over the fallen gorilla. Beast Boy nudged the wall-crawler with his elbow.

"Isn't it fun being in a team?" the boy asked.

Spider-Man looked at the gorilla. The telepathic monster could have easily taken over his mind; without M'Gann, his brain would have been mush. Huntress, by disabling Grodd's machine had without a doubt saved the world. Static and Beast Boy had been helpful as well.

The web-slinger nodded.

"Okay, I guess you're right. Now let's call the proper authorities. This big guy here is weird" Spider-Man said with some relief.

* * *

Several minutes later, the authorities had arrived. Miss Martian immediately approached Mayor Fermin, telling her how she and Hub City could help those that had been influenced by Grodd. The mayor seemed to agree with everything. Grodd himself was manacled and placed within an armored car. Miss Martian had the big gorilla under a telepathic trance that would hopefully not be broken before they put an inhibitor collar on him.

As they were about to leave, the Question came out of the shadows.

"You're late" Static said, noticing the faceless vigilante.

"Twain sent me on a wild goose chase" he then turned to Spider-Man. He handed the wall-crawler a book "Here take this. It'll do you good" he said, and then disappeared.

"What did he give you?" Beast Boy asked.

Spider-Man held up the book. It was _Atlas Shrugged_, by Ayn Rand. He sighed deeply.

Beast Boy however, couldn't help but laugh. He held the helmet Grodd had on his head in his hands.

"Well, I got something better than that" he said "It'll look better in the trophy room"

"You have a trophy room?" Spider-Man asked.

"We have a trophy room in the Watchtower" M'Gann said "You haven't seen it yet?"

Spider-Man shook his head.

"I'll take him there to see it" Huntress said, standing by the wall-crawler's side.

"How could I ever say no to that?" Spider-Man said, smiling beneath his mask.

* * *

The girl who had once been known as Artemis leaned against the wall of a building, looking at the Eifel Tower with a sorrowed expression. She remembered when Wally had kissed her here, and had suggested they visit this place.

Well, she was here, but there was no Wally. And this was business. Deathstroke the Terminator had been spotted in Paris. The League needed to know what he was doing. So far, the mercenary who had been her father's rival had managed to keep his profile low.

Tigress would have to prowl more extensively tonight. Artemis put her hands in her pockets and she started to walk away from the tower. She lifted her eyes, and to her surprise, she saw Bart.

At first, she wondered what Bart was doing here in Paris, but then, to her shock, she realized that the Kid Flash before her wasn't Bart. The image flickered, and it seemed as if he was running in place, but he was recognizable. She had no doubt it was Wally.

This was an illusion; an illusion caused by grief. There was no doubt about that. Artemis would have to speak to Black Canary soon enough. And then, the phantasmagoric figure of Wally spoke:

"Artemis! Artemis!... baby! I have... stay here... universe ... danger. There's ... Darkseid, ... Anti-Life ... hidden ... minds of ... human beings...alternate Earth, ... Spider-guy and Doom... to take care of... and fast... worse than... saw him kill...!...cube!"

Suddenly, Wally's phantasmagoric image disappeared. Artemis fell down on her knees, not knowing what to do.

* * *

**Endnote:** _This chapter, like the fifth, took some time for me to complete, but not for the same reasons. I knew more or less what I wanted to do (whether I succeeded or not is up to the reader). However, I think I might be a bit fatigued by this story; I know how this story will end and all, and I do intend to finish it, but my imagination is already wandering in other directions. This is a personal problem of mine, and the reason why I find it hard to finish a story. Don't worry, since this has been published, and isn't stored within the privacy of my hard drive, I will finish the story - the outlines are being elaborated on. However, I need a distraction. I don't know if I should, but I've been thinking about publishing another few chapters of a different story (another crossover) I haven't completed yet, but which I have written well before this one. If anyone who is reading this story thinks that's a bad idea, please tell me. I may or may not take another two to three weeks to publish the next chapter of this story._


	8. City Submerged

**8**

**City Submerged**

Esak looked at the monitor as the enormous blasts of energy tried to rip through space. There was a visible bend in fabric of space and time, as the stars themselves seemed to stretch out and curve. The blasts intensified, and a brightly colored ripple emerged. Slowly, it grew, first into a sphere, and then into something like a ring torus. However, what was seen through the torus' aperture was not the space that surrounded it. Within the torus Esak could see stars that did not match with the stars outside of it. It was all very clear; the instruments indicated that those stars were made entirely from anti-matter. Esak smiled. He had achieved the seemingly impossible.

He had opened a gateway to another universe. The deformed hands of the renegade New God touched the console, and the image on the monitor zoomed in on the discovered universe. Esak's smiled widened.

Before him, he saw a planet; an ugly, rough-surfaced thing, unsmooth and not at all the near perfect spherical shape, like any other planet of similar size. The planet seemed to be a made up jumble of rocks that had been haphazardly glued together. It was an ugly world.

The lights throughout the control room began to flicker. Esak began looking about, his irritation growing.

"I need more power!" he yelled at the nearest assistant. Everyone within the control room worked hard on their consoles. But the inevitable happened. The beam that kept the wormhole open lost strength, and soon, the torus collapsed upon itself.

Esak banged his fist furiously against the console, as he waved his other fist at his assistants. "You incompetent oafs! We were almost there! Which one of you failed me?"

All of the assistants cowered before the disfigured form of their master. Esak picked one to bully and grabbed him by the neck.

"What did you do you wretch?" Esak asked.

"Nothing I swear!" the assistant pleaded in terror "The War World needs more power"

Esak let go of the assistant with a snarl. "You are lucky that I need you" he said. And he silently admitted that the assistant was right. Despite its power, the War World did not have the energetic capacity to open a gateway between universes. At least not for now. The disfigured New God scowled. He had hoped that this vessel would be powerful enough to do the job, that it would only need a few minor adjustments. It was clear that he was wrong. But then, what would one expect from something that belonged to Mongul – a creature Esak viewed as a bastardized copy of Darkseid. At times, Esak thought that Mongul was something worse – that he was nothing but the copy of a copy, if that were possible.

As he returned to his console to try and discover what new modifications he needed to perform in order to make the death machine that was the War World truly efficient, he felt a shadow fall on him.

Through the corner of his eyes, he could see his assistant prostrating on the ground. He lowered his head and slowly turned.

"My lord Darkseid" he said in a humble tone.

"It seems that you have still not achieved your goal" the dark god said as he stood over Esak.

"No my lord" Esak said, "This pathetic War World does not have the power to open up a rift for more than a few seconds. I have however found the world of Qward. It should make things easier once we make this vessel more energy efficient"

A low rumble came out of the dark god.

Darkseid crossed his hands over his chest and looked at the monitor. "Make it so. As for the power, I will give it to you"

He left the control room. Esak sighed with relief, and continued working over the console, making sure that nothing else went wrong. Something always went wrong. But he would be very happy when everything went right.

* * *

Bubba Rut waved his AK 47 in the air, pulling the trigger. Pieces of the hallway ceiling fell upon his head, and the students ran into their classrooms in a panic, hoping that he wouldn't come in. Not much good could be said about Bubba Rut; he wasn't a nice boy who had been mercilessly bullied by the jocks. He was just a jerk that everyone avoided, and who blamed others for his misfortunes. The contempt he had for others was obvious to any who spoke to him; only those who believed that the Earth was six thousand years old had his respect – and he still thought of himself as their superior. This violent explosion was not unexpected. What could have triggered it was a mystery.

He walked along the hallway, moving slowly on purpose, thinking that he was himself an invincible horror monster, cooler than the ones he had seen so many times at the movies. He grinned in a horrible way that would be the pride of a certain citizen of Gotham City.

"Come on! Why won't anyone come out to play?" he said. He shot at the ceiling again. More debris came down; more dust came down on his head, coloring part of his hair white. He felt that he was on top of the world.

Slowly, he moved towards the closest door, making sure to step on the debris and crunching them under his boot. He smiled wickedly.

"Oh Ms. Day? I was wondering if I could have a word with you" he said, giggling maniacally. He tapped his fingers on the knob, and then grabbed it. He turned the knob, but as soon as he tried to push the door open, it wouldn't give way. "Really? Ms. Day, I just want to talk to you, express my feelings for you; you know, those feelings I get whenever I see you? We should have a conversation"

"Bubba, you need help" Ms. Day said from behind the door.

"Okay then, why don't you help me? Just let me in and we can help each other" Bubba Rut said.

"I'm not going to let that happen" Ms. Day replied. It was clear that she was shaken. Other students could be heard from within, speaking between themselves. "Bubba, we've already called the police. Just give up now before you make things worse for yourself"

Bubba Rut let out a maniacal cackle. "They're not going to be here on time Ms. Day. Not until we have a little conversation" Bubba Rut then aimed his machine gun at the door, and pulled the trigger. There was an explosion of noise and the door lock was shattered.

The insane student smiled and pushed at the door. It didn't open as far as he had expected; it was barricaded with the Ms. Day's desk.

"Are you trying to stop me? It's not going to work!" Bubba Rut said. He then madly charged at the door. The desk budged a few centimeters inwards. Someone pushed it back towards the door.

"Okay, fine. You want it this way? I'm glad. I want to shoot my pretty little gun" he said, taking a few steps back. He shot his gun, and he could hear the screaming amidst the gunfire. "Here I come, and I better be well received!"

He started kicking at the door, furiously. It was almost as if he were unaware of his surroundings; as if tunnel-vision had focused his attention on that one door. He certainly didn't notice the red and blue figure approaching, clung to the wall.

Bubba Rut was still kicking at the door, when Spider-Man dropped to the ground and landed on his feet. And Bubba Rut continued kicking at the door even after Spider-Man had landed in a most audible manner. He didn't notice the web-slinger's presence until the arachnid hero shook his head in disbelief and raised his hand. A web came out of his wrist and hit the AK 47. With one slight tug, Spider-Man ripped the gun off of the student's hands.

Only then did Bubba stop attacking the door and looked to his side. He saw Spider-Man standing in the hallway, with his machine gun in his hands. Then, effortlessly, Spider-Man broke the AK 47 into two pieces.

"Okay Bub" said Spider-Man, who never thought that he'd say bub like some unwashed Canadian, "What's your problem with that door? What did it do to hurt your feelings? Feel free to talk to Dr. Spider-Man here. I'm a science major"

Bubba jumped up, startled. Nervously, he pulled out a glock from inside his pants, and pointed it at the wall-crawler. His hands were shaking, and it didn't seem that he wouldn't hit anything but the ceiling.

"I'm gonna kill ya man!" he said, trying to sound tough. He pulled the trigger several times. Spider-Man dodged each bullet with ease, simply stepping to the side or shifting his torso about.

Spider-Man moved quickly and snatched the gun from Bubba Rut's hand. With one squeeze, Spider-Man crushed the gun.

"I don't think so man!" the wall-crawler said in response to Bubba Rut. Before the disturbed teen could do anything more, Spider-Man punched him in the face, knocking him out. He then quickly webbed the teen up against the wall.

"Thank goodness!" Ms. Day said, peeking through the openings that Bubba Rut's gun had made in the door. "You saved our lives!"

Beneath his mask, Spider-Man smiled. It wasn't everyday you got a reception like this.

"It was the only thing I could do miss. Have you called the police?" the web-slinger asked.

"Several times" Ms. Day replied. And as she said that, the police sirens were heard, and they were getting louder.

Spider-Man looked at Ms. Day and gave her a salute. "I better leave. Stay out of trouble, you here?" he said, and then he disappeared.

* * *

By the time Peter Parker arrived at the Elliot Shapiro High School in New York City, the police were surrounding setting up a security cordon. Ambulances could be seen, and Peter was sure that he saw a few bomb squads nearby.

Ah, New York. The differences between this one and the one he had left behind were quite minimal.

Even though he knew that the danger had passed, Peter approached slowly and warily. He walked towards the nearest cop. "Excuse me officer, but what's going on here?"

"Are you a student in this school?" the police officer asked.

"Yes sir. I'm a bit late. Because I study hard" Peter said, clumsily. The youth was fortunate that the police was too busy, and didn't notice his tone of voice. Or maybe he thought that Peter had been partying the previous night before.

"Son, one of your classmates started a little ruckus here. You have nothing to worry about. You just might not have school today" the officer said.

"A shame" Peter replied.

"Of course it is son" the policeman snidely said as he turned his attention elsewhere.

"Hey Pete!"

Peter turned towards the direction of the call. Ronnie Raymond was there, waving his hands in the air. Peter looked around and once he noticed that the cops weren't looking in his direction, he walked under the police tape.

"Pete! Where were you man?" Ronnie asked. When Peter had first met Ronnie, he thought that the teenager must have been this universe's version of Flash Thompson, but in just a matter of a few days – actually, just one – Ronnie turned out to be a good friend. A good friend who introduced him to others, like Jason Rusch. This was something unusual for Peter. He never had good friends at school. The closest people to him were his Aunt May, Betty Brant – who was now out of the picture – and that idiot, Johnny Storm.

"I got up late. I was up all night studying" Peter said as he lied through his teeth. He had actually been out in the street as Spider-Man and beating up thugs.

"Why do you need to stay up all night to study? You're the smartest guy I know" Ronnie said. And that was probably because Peter had spent a lot of time absorbing the more exotic scientific theories this universe had to offer, making sure that he knew more than many. He had been warned about studying too hard by everyone in the Watchtower, but in the end, it had worked out well. Peter had high marks on his exam, which allowed him to come to New York and attend Elliot Shapiro High School, one of the best High Schools in New York and known to be funded by Wayne Enterprises, Lexcorp, Kord Industries and S.T.A.R. labs, each wanting to recruit the world's next genius into their fold.

"I like to study" Peter said, trying hard not to dwell on the subject. He immediately turned to what was going on around them "What's going on here?"

"That jerk Bubba Rut – you know, that guy you shoved into the trash by accident the other day – he brought a gun and started shooting up the place" Ronnie said.

"What?" Peter said, feigning surprise "Did anyone get hurt?"

"No one got hurt – we all got really lucky. That new superhero that's been on the news took care of him – you know, Spider-Man" Ronnie said.

Peter tried his best to look shocked and surprised. "Really? That's just my luck to miss out on seeing a superhero beat up the bad guys. This always happens to me – I'm never there when something interesting happens. So, did he have any problems?"

Ronnie let out a laugh "Heck no! He took care of Bubba in just a few seconds. Broke his two guns and punched him in the face before he could do any harm. The only thing he did do was creep out Ms. Day"

"What did he do to Ms. Day?"

"He tried to break into her classroom. You can guess why. That's when Spider-Man cleaned his clock. It was amazing man" Ronnie said "Anyway, Ms. Day's a real trooper. She's being checked out right now"

"I hope she's alright" Peter said. But he knew that Ms. Day wasn't going to let this bring her down.

"I think she'll be okay" Ronnie said "Anyway, school's out. Jason, me and the girls are going to the Monster Mash. Want to go?"

Peter smiled. He was taken back to the time before he was Spider-Man, asking the kids in school if they would like to go to a science exhibit with him, only to be shot down. This was a welcome change.

"Groovy! What's showing?" Peter asked

"How appropriate that you should say groovy – Army of Darkness" Ronnie said.

Peter's smile nearly occupied his entire face. "That's really groovy. Count me in"

"Not so fast mister" a woman behind Peter said.

Peter turned and saw a blond Eurasian woman staring at him.

"Are you Peter Parker?" she asked.

"Yes I am" Peter said.

Ronnie jumped forward. "And if you don't like him, I could be Peter Parker"

The woman squinted at Ronnie in such a way that the carefree teen backed off.

"She's all yours Pete" he said, standing behind Peter.

"Thanks" Peter said. "But I think that that what you're thinking of is sort of against the law"

The woman looked at Peter with a severe expression. "Mr. Parker, I'm not here to play games. I need to have a word with you" she said. She looked at Ronnie with irritation. "And I only want to talk to Parker. Not to his stupid jock buddy."

Peter and Ronnie shared glances. "Okay, I'm going. See you Pete" Ronnie said.

Peter frowned. His spider-sense however, wasn't going off, so she wasn't a threat – at least for now. "What do you want me for? And who are you?"

"I'm Artemis Crock, and I need to have a word with you" the woman said "or is the itsy-bitsy spider afraid of me?" she said the last part of that sentence in such a charged manner that Peter had no doubt of where she was from. He thought about all of the women he had met on the Watchtower, Batgirl, with her red hair, Wondergirl, whose face was never covered, along with several others. The most likely person this woman might be was Tigress, whose face he had never seen.

"Fine. I'm going with you. But don't try to be funny" Peter said. They walked away from the school, towards a parked car. Artemis remotely opened the car; the door to the back-seat opened. Artemis pointed it. Only then did Peter notice someone else in the car.

"Get in" she said.

Peter looked at her quizzically.

"Are you deaf?" she asked as he wasn't in a hurry to get in.

"Only cautious" Peter replied, trying to see who was in the front passenger seat. He entered the car and let his tuckus fall upon the seat. Finally, he had a good view of who was in the car, sitting directly in front of him.

The woman had long dark hair. She turned to look at the youth, and Peter recognized her, even if he had only spoken to her a few times. A face like hers was hard to forget. As was her legs.

"You're Zazanna, right?" Peter asked.

The woman frowned. "It's Zatanna." she said in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Sorry" Peter said, smiling awkwardly.

Zatanna turned back to look ahead as Artemis entered the car. Zatanna turned her head back again.

"Better buckle up Peter" she said.

Peter did as Zatanna said. He usually didn't wear seatbelts when he was in the backseat, but he was aware that it was just as important for a passenger in the backseat to wear them as it was for those in front.

"Where are you taking me?" Peter asked.

"Back to your place. Ted asked us to pick you up." Zatanna replied. Peter nodded slightly. That did sound like something old Ted would do. The old man probably wanted Peter to practice his punches.

"And then we have a little pow-wow" Artemis said.

Peter somehow didn't like the sound of that; he saw Zatanna leaning forward. A second later, the car radio was on. Instead of music, Peter heard a teenaged voice speak:

"_… infamous vigilante Bueno Excelente was tasked with escorting Dr. Light to Belle Reve Prison. Amanda Waller has stated that whatever Bueno Excelente did to Dr. Light was alright by her. While that's going on, Queen Bee of Bialya and her new boyfriend, Victor Von Doom…"_

The radio was quickly turned off "I'm driving." Artemis said.

Peter wished that she wasn't. Although he would rather not have anything to do with Dr. Doom, the man was too dangerous to ignore. Especially now that he had a face. That really surprised the wall-crawler. Richards had told Spider-Man that Victor Von Doom had once been a handsome man, before his face was scarred. The face that Peter had seen on the news was unscarred; the face of a charming douche. But the name, voice and manner were the same as the man he had fought with in the Baxter Building.

"Could you please turn the radio back on?" Peter asked "What was on could be important"

Artemis seemed to turn her head slightly. "We'll hear it later. Billy tends to repeat the news anyway"

Zatanna turned to Peter "Artemis is not in a good mood. The last time we were in this city, we got into this fight with a super-villain who had killed his own sister" Zatanna said.

"Please don't remind me of that freak Harm. I'm glad he's still locked up" Artemis quickly replied.

For the next following minutes, an awkward silence reigned. Peter wondered if he should say something, but he was getting the impression, especially from Artemis, that whatever he would say would be grossly inappropriate.

But he did really wish that she hadn't turned off the radio when Dr. Doom's name had been mentioned.

* * *

Ocean Master stood atop the submarine's hull, looking at the horizon before him. One of Black Manta's men stood by him.

"I can smell it" Ocean Master said.

"My lord" the man said, his head lowered "Your sense of smell must be better than mine. I can't smell the stench of the Big Apple from here"

Ocean Master turned to look at the man. The man expected to be slapped in the face. But the Atlantean simply shook his head slightly.

"I'm not smelling New York" Ocean Master said, raising up his spear high in the sky. It was an old thing, powerful and arcane. The shaft itself was long and knotted. The blade was sharp, triangular, and as long as a short-sword; a flame engulfed it. At the bottom, the spear had a strange cubic pommel which glowed with an eldritch, yellow light. "I'm smelling the egg. Is it still there?"

Manta's man opened a laptop. The monitor showed the view of one of the security cameras from the Museum of Natural History. The security systems had been boosted since the Sword of Beowulf had been stolen by Harm – and that worked to Ocean Master's advantage. Thanks to the upgrade, there were new and undetectable ways in which to hack the system.

Standing on a pedestal, encased within an exceptionally strong Plexiglas casing, was a bright blue orb. To the curators of the Museum, it was the Rock of Arion. Ocean Master seemed to be the only one who knew what it was.

Hadn't it been for the spear, he wouldn't have known what it was. The surface dwellers had named the egg improperly, associating it with Arion. Not only had it belonged to Arion's brother, and enemy, Garn Daanuuth – it had been the evil wizard's creation.

The spear, another one of Garn Daanuuth's artifacts, had witnessed its creation. He knew of the powerful creature that lied within, ready to be controlled whoever nursed it first, like ducklings to a farmer, because the spear had seen it made.

Ocean Master walked away from Manta's man. "Prepare your men. It begins now" the villainous Atlantean said, leaping into the water.

The water parted easily as the Atlantean dived into it. No surface dweller could dive so easily as he. As soon as he was completely submerged, Ocean Master swam to the bottom; he didn't bother to look over his shoulder to see the submarine submerging as well.

As soon as his feet touched the bottom, he stabbed the blade of his spear into the Earth. He could feel the rippling of the water around his body; his Atlantean followers stood a few feet behind him, wary of the spear's power.

Ocean Master clasped his hands tightly around the spear's shaft. He closed his eyes, and poured all of his will into it. He grunted, and tried hard to stifle the screams that wanted to come out of his throat. So much of his will had to be poured into this spear; more so than what a green lantern was expected to do. It was a huge strain on Ocean Master's mind and his body. A few of his followers had noticed his pallor and his craggy looks.

Nonetheless, Ocean Master continued pouring his will into the spear, forcing its magic to work for him. It had said, in the old scriptures, that only the strongest mind could make the spear's magic work. Ocean Master would not admit to any weakness.

Still, Ocean Master found himself slipping, until he was down on his knees. He still held the spear, and he was satisfied with that. He gritted his teeth. Beneath his mask and the lenses that covered his eyes, red-blood tears began to pour out.

A soft wail came out of Ocean Master's gut. The ocean began to churn. He could feel the currents shift – the water itself was changing its natural course. Ocean Master smiled, blood billowing from his mouth. He had achieved what he wanted. He was truly a master of oceans. Now, the ocean's path would not be stopped. But he needed to give the ocean another push. It was moving too slowly.

Suddenly, he let out a yell. His Atlantean followers rushed to attend to him, as Manta's men just stood by, watching with some interest and curiosity. Before the Atlanteans could reach their lord, the Ocean Master, he had collapsed.

The ocean moved along as Ocean Master had wanted, but it was so slow. It was unstoppable, but it was too slow for it to be truly as dangerous as it could have been. Ocean Master would have been displeased if he were awake to see it.

* * *

Weakened by the collar around his neck, Peter managed to dodge a right hook from the old man, but he failed to block a punch to the gut. The youth quickly responded, giving the old man an uppercut. It hit the old man in the chin, but the old man didn't go down. Men like Ted Grant, former boxing champions weren't going to be felled so easily – especially by such a weak punch.

Peter began nodding his head this way and that, feeling the inhibitor collar rubbing against his neck. Old Ted Grant had insisted that as long as Peter was living under his care, in the apartment he had over his gym, than he would be trained properly in the manly art of boxing. That of course meant that Peter had to be brought down to normal – with an inhibitor collar. He was having a hard time of it without most of his spectacular strength and his spider-sense.

Ted launched another punch, this time an upset punch to his solar plexus. Peter luckily saw it in time and blocked it, only for old Ted to jab him in the face. Peter was knocked against the ropes – Ted approached and before he could throw a punch, Peter gave him a shovel hook. The old champion winced, but didn't buckle; he began delivering a series of jabs at Peter that left the youth winded and on the brink of falling on his rear.

And then, old Ted stopped. "I think that's just about it. You need your rest" he said "You're getting better by each day son" he said, untying his gloves with the help of Zatanna.

"That's very nice to hear" Peter said forcibly pulling the headgear off of him. He certainly didn't feel that he was getting better. The old man, much to Peter's chagrin, always had the upper hand – at least whenever Peter wore the inhibitor collar. But there was some merit in what the old man said. It was strange to admit it, but Peter was certain that even without his powers he was stronger than he was before the radioactive spider had bitten him. Most likely, this was due to all of the superheroing. It made you stronger regardless.

"Let me help" Zatanna said, walking up to Peter, and helped to untie the boxing gloves. Peter wondered silently how it was that Zatanna had come to this city without causing a riot – she was a famous stage performer. And then Peter remembered that she was a stage performer. No one would know who she was. As soon as the gloves were off, Peter's freed hands went immediately to the inhibitor collar. He took it off, and felt his strength returning, and the buzzing of his spider-sense.

"I know why you feel like this is necessary Ted" Peter said, and he meant it. When Ted first told him that he wanted Peter to learn boxing with an inhibitor collar on, the youth knew why; at any point in time, a super-villain could concoct something that might weaken him. It was not likely to happen, but it was a possibility. And Peter would have to be prepared to fight without his spider-sense "But do we have to spar every day?"

"If you were training to be a champ like I was, it wouldn't be necessary, but son, you're putting your life on the line every day and every night, and although most of the people you take care of aren't much to write home about, others are more devious. You always have to be prepared" the old man said. "Being prepared saved my life several times. If I hadn't hit the gym every day, Per Degaton might have been wearing my skin years ago.

"And what about your nine lives?" Zatanna asked, looking at the old man smugly.

Ted just frowned. "That's a bonus, given to me because I was always prepared"

"You actually have nine lives?" Peter asked Ted, not knowing what the old boxer and Zatanna were talking about.

"It's a long story" Ted said "I'll tell you later. But first, you got to hit the showers, and tend to your wounds"

Peter waved the collar in the air. "Don't need that anymore. The collar's off. But I will hit the showers. If you ladies won't mind" Peter smiled at Zatanna and Artemis. Zatanna returned the smile, but Artemis was inexpressive. She hadn't liked what Peter had told her. As soon as they arrived at Ted's Gym, Artemis began asking him questions – about Doom, and about some cube. Peter had already told the League about Doom – telling Artemis that someone should be keeping an eye on Doom in Bialya. He certainly didn't know much about a cube. He did remember Reed Richards talking about a cube when discussing cosmic energies, but that could mean nothing at all.

All in all, Peter had little to give Artemis. He had no idea why she was bugging him. He had asked, but she had responded in a gruff manner.

Her arms were crossed over her chest. As Peter passed her to get to the showers, Artemis said, "I'm sure you know something about what I asked you"

Peter just stopped and looked at her. "I already told you everything I know"

"Are you sure Peter? Think – and think hard. You know more than you think you do" Artemis said.

"Easy Artemis" Zatanna said, placing her hand over her friend's shoulder. She looked at Peter "If you do remember anything else of significance, tell us immediately" the magician said.

The youth nodded. However, he doubted that he could be of any more help. What Artemis had told him was garbled and made little sense. He understood very well that Dr. Doom was dangerous, but everything else was a mystery to him.

Peter continued making his way to the lockers that lead into the showers. Before he could strip down, he was suddenly stopped by the strong, sharp feeling within his skull. He rushed out into the gymnasium itself.

Ted looked at the youth, puzzled. Peter hadn't told him about his spider-sense, but the old man was close to Batman, and the dark knight detective was good at figuring things out.

"Is there anything wrong son?" he asked.

Peter looked at Ted, and then at Zatanna and Artemis. Both were looking at him in a quizzical manner.

"I just need to see go outside" he quickly said, running towards the exit. Artemis quickly followed after him; Zatanna and Ted werenh't far behind.

Peter opened the door, and a thin film of water came pouring into the gymnasium.

"What's going on?" Peter muttered.

"That's a good question" Zatanna said. She walked past Peter to the outdoors. She looked at the ground, and then lifted her head up towards the sky. Peter noticed that everyone else outside was puzzled. He also noticed that the water was rising. Just a few seconds ago, it was just a film of water that was barely a millimeter high. The water was now about to rise over the soles of his shoes and reach his toes.

"Zatanna, you'd better be quick" Artemis said.

"Do you know what's going on?" Peter asked.

Artemis gave him a sharp look "Something magic, and that's bad"

The water was rising quickly, beginning to reach Peter's ankles. People were already beginning to scream while others grabbed their cellphones to record everything that was going on.

"I'd better put on my longjohns" Peter said, running inside.

"That's a good idea. But I don't wear longjohns" Artemis said. In response to the odd look on Peter's face, Artemis quickly replied, "You know what I mean"

"Sure" the youth said.

* * *

In an instant, Spider-Man dropped from the sky and landed near Zatanna. Tigress wasn't far behind. The wall-crawler wondered where she had come from. Both had obviously come out to the street in ways in which not to throw suspicion on Ted Grant and his gym – that is to say, none of them came out the gym's door. Spider-Man came out through the back window and had to circle around the gym. Tigress probably left through the back door, although, knowing who Ted Grant had once been, there was probably a secret exit. Spider-Man took note to ask the old man.

And as if thinking about the old man was like speaking Black Jack's name out loud, Wildcat himself came rushing towards Zatanna; where he had come from, no one would see. Despite his many years of life, Wildcat seemed spryer than many men in their twenties.

"Okay honey, what's wrong" the old man asked, sloshing his feet against the rising water.

Zatanna took a deep breath. "We're being attacked by an arcane and alien form of magic" she said with a frown.

"What do you mean Zee? There's a Martian wizard somewhere out there filling this city in water?" Tigress asked. The water was already reaching her knees. "I'm getting wet" she grunted out.

"You should try standing on high ground" Spider-Man said, as he clung to the wall of a nearby building.

The only response Tigress gave was a glare. The web-slinger just shrugged.

"You can stand on top of a car. All of you can, actually" Spider-Man said, as the water continued rising. Many of the surrounding New Yorkers had begun to do that, or they ran indoors, to a building with more than one floor. "Boy is this going to get ugly" he remarked. If the water began to rise any further, people wouldn't have many places to hide. And emergency workers would have a hard time doing their jobs. Spider-Man was sure that they would have to do most of the work.

"Can you stop this Zee? I don't want to end up like a prune" Tigress said.

"I'm already a prune, and I don't like being wet" Wildcat added.

Zatanna closed her eyes and she cleared her throat.

"Tcetorp wen kroy morf retaw" she said. At first, nothing seemed to happen, and then Spider-Man saw a golden barrier rise around the city. It began to curve until the entire city was covered in what looked like a dome made of magical energy.

The water continued to rise, but it no longer entered the city. To the horror of many New Yorkers, they could see the water rising further still through the semi-transparent magical barrier, until the dome itself was covered in water.

"Niard retaw morf ytic" Zatanna said. The water that had seeped in before was suddenly disappearing, until there was little trace of it besides the wet concrete and a few puddles in the asphalt of the streets.

Zatanna said something which to Spider-Man sounded inaudible, and she was surrounded by an opaque whirlwind. The whirlwind quickly dissolved, and Zatanna stood there in her current superhero costume. Spider-Man had been told that she had other looks.

"I know that you might not know who did this, but, do you know who did this?" the web-slinger asked. "And was he a Martian?"

The magician shook her head. "When I said that this was alien magic, I didn't mean magic from a different planet"

Zatanna looked at the sky, at the top of the dome, and at the water above.

"What did you mean?" Tigress asked.

Zatanna didn't say anything for a second "I feel like this magic should never exist"

Spider-Man was also looking up at the ceiling of the magic dome. From what little experience he had with magic, he understood that such spells depended on the strength of the spell caster.

"Are you going to be able to hold that thing up for very long?" he asked.

Zatanna took a deep breath. "I don't know"

Spider-Man remembered what his teacher had taught him once in history class, about what had happened just before World War Two and the Nazis had turned the Sub-Mariner into a hero.

"You don't know any flaming androids made from Horton cells, do you?" Spider-Man asked.

"The only guy I know who matches that description is Red Tornado – and I don't think he's available to help us." Tigress said. She pulled out a cellphone from her utility belt, and placed it near her ear.

"Who are you calling?" Zatanna asked

"Kaldur. This is his turf." Tigress said.

"The girl must have good coverage. My phone stops working under a bridge" Wildcat curmudgeonly said.

* * *

Slowly, Ocean Master opened his eyes. Two of his lieutenants were standing by his side, trying their best to help him on his feet. The villain shook them off. The last thing he wanted to do was show weakness. Not while he held the spear in his hand.

"Stand back, all of you! Only I have the strength needed to tame the Naiad!" he commanded to all of those present.

"There may be problem with that" one of Black Manta's men said. Ocean Master looked at the armored man, bewildered that he was present, and then remembering that Manta's men were under his command.

The man's audacity did offend Ocean Master. If he hadn't been so exhausted from his previous effort, he would have backhanded the man.

"What do you mean by that wretch?" growled Ocean Master "The city is submerged and she should be hatching now"

"The city isn't submerged" Manta's man said.

Ocean Master swam towards the man, and grabbed him by the armor covering his throat. "What do you mean? By the sheer strength of my will alone, I commanded the water to submerge it!"

"There's a magic barrier around the city" the man said.

Ocean Master turned to look in the general direction of New York City. He easily noticed the unnatural glow.

Quickly, Ocean Master made his way there, followed by his people. Soon enough, he saw New York City submerged, if not for a golden magical dome over it. Ocean Master felt the bile rising from his gut.

Like a shark, he charged at the city and the dome that protected it. As soon as he was just inches away from it, he began attacking the barrier with the blade of the ancient spear. He didn't notice several people within the city looking at him in terror, as well as recording everything with their cellphones and digital cameras. He hit the barrier as hard as he could, but it wouldn't even buckle.

"My lord, please! You are overexerting yourself" one of his Atlantean followers said. Ocean Master gave the Atlantean a swift backhanded blow to the face. He glared at the barrier, and the people of New York who were watching him, and he swam away.

Once he was at a comfortable distance from the city, Ocean Master turned to another of his lieutenants.

"I want the city surrounded" he then turned to Manta's man "And I want your people to help. Shoot at that thing with your weapons until it falls apart!" Ocean Master's hands clasped the spear's shaft tightly, and the blade's blaze intensified, although it seemed as if the pommel glowed the brightest. He could see success before his very eyes. With the Naiad, he could disrupt Aquaman's control over the denizens of the deep, and finally take what was rightfully his, and stop pretending to be a kind, caring brother.

"Surface dweller!" Ocean Master yelled out towards Manta's man.

"My lord?" the man in armor asked.

"Give me your computer" the aquatic villain commanded.

In a quick gesture, Manta's man gave Ocean Master his tablet. The Atlantean snatched it quickly from the former's hand, and he began tapping at its surface. An image soon appeared of a princely man in his early fifties, grizzled, but quite active.

"L-5, to what do I owe the honor?" Ra's al Ghul asked, clearly in a disrespectful tone.

"Don't trifle with me Ra's. Do you have any people in New York?" he swiftly asked.

Ra's al Ghul just stared at Ocean Master for several seconds. "Why L-5? Are you not satisfied with just drowning them? Perhaps you would like to burn – of course that would be difficult under the sea"

"How dare you be disrespectful to me! I am the one true master of every ocean and sea on this Earth. My territory dwarves any little bit of land that you could ever possess!" Ocean Master growled.

Ra's al Ghul glared at Ocean Master. "You are the master of nothing L-5! It is only because of Black Manta's current incarceration that the light has bothered to return you to your old position! We thought that you might be of some use, but it seems that you have not changed at all – or perhaps you have changed, for it seems that you are more of a bungler than you were before. Tell me L-5, what is the purpose of your attack on New York?"

"That is my business L-2, which would benefit you and the Light greatly. But if you wish for the Light to continue as a failed organization, than by all means, do nothing at all." Ocean Master snarled.

Ra's squinted his eyes at the Atlantean. "For the sake of the Light, and our common enterprise, I will make a few calls. However, you would do well not to fail. I don't know what foul magic you're toying with, but I can see its affects on you. Take care Ocean Master, take care. The price for failure will be heavy, and you have already disappointed us once before. And I would appreciate it if you never contacted me again."

* * *

Spider-Man swung amidst the buildings of New York, helping wherever he could. So far, no one had been seriously hurt, but the situation was tense. That was natural considering that several tons of water hung over everyone's heads. The wall-crawler's spider-sense hadn't stopped buzzing since the water had first made its appearance; luckily, he could still use his spider-sense.

One unexpected consequence of New York's submergence was that several buildings were beginning to teeter over. Spider-Man was shocked that the foundations could be so weak. He would swing by, making bridges out of webbing to carry people out of the more perilous edifices, while using more webbing to try to keep them standing until the authorities could solve the problem in a more permanent manner.

Making things worse, your garden variety of thugs decided to come out of the woodworks to assault people and steal whatever they could. Spider-Man, as well as Wildcat and Tigress usually had to resort to violence for those cases. This course of action wasn't regretted.

Spider-Man swung over a police cordon, when one of them – clearly a plainclothes detective, waved his arm, and called out for him. "Spider-Man, wait up! Super-villains are attacking the Museum of Natural History!"

The wall-crawler for a millisecond stared at the police officer. Having an actual police officer ask for his help was something of a rarity. "I'm on it!" he said, shooting out another webline and changing directions midair.

Even though this New York was within a different universe, he still knew the streets and alleys well. Spider-Man arrived at the Museum of Natural History in a matter of seconds. The place was a mess. Apparently, ever since the Harm incident, the people financing the Museum had placed within it security robots meant to stop intruders and thieves who tended to be more dangerous than the common thugs one would expect to see in a dark street. However, the robots had done little to protect the museum; several could be seen lying near the entrance, completely broken apart.

They hadn't all been finished off yet. Spider-Man could hear the sounds of battle within the museum. Beam weapons were being fired, while slicing sounds could be heard. Spider-Man aimed for a nearby building and shot out a web. He swung into the museum.

He came just in time to see the last security robot get cut down by a man with a hook. Behind him, stuck to a wall, he saw a strangely familiar figure dressed in purple and black; it was almost like looking at a distorted image in the mirror.

"This is bizarre. I haven't been in this city long enough for people to start ripping me off" Spider-Man said to the purple man in the spider-suit. He turned to the man with the hook prosthetic "You should stop that. Johnny Depp killed the pirate routine"

The man with the hook swung his arm, and the hook shot out towards Spider-Man. The web-slinger easily dodged the sharp object, which returned to its owner.

"Don't kill him Hook! He's mine!" the look-alike said. Spider-Man turned to look at the man.

"I'm sorry, but you're really not my type. It's your hair – it looks stupid" Spider-Man said.

The look-alike growled. "You want to know what's worse than rotting in prison? It's rotting in prison and finding out that some dumb punk has stolen your gear and is just screwing around. No one messes with Black Spider and gets away with it!"

"Hey!" Spider-Man said "Watch your language! And secondly, I stole nothing" Spider-Man tapped his chest. "This is one hundred percent me! The best me there is!"

Black Spider stretched out his arms and a purple web shot out of the bracelets he had on his wrists. Spider-Man remembered that Batman had compared him to a Black Spider when they first encountered each other. Spider-Man could see some resemblance.

Black Spider shot out a purple web. Spider-Man leapt out of the way, and stuck on to the other wall. He looked at the purple web. He decided right there and then that there was absolutely no resemblance between himself and Black Spider.

"Are you color-blind?" Spider-Man asked "No spider worth his or her salt has purple webs. Do you know how stupid this makes you seem?"

"Are you going to finish him off or not?" Hook howled at Black Spider.

Black Spider turned his head slightly in Hook's direction. "I have something special in store for this punk" he took out something that looked like a cellphone. He pointed it at Spider-man and pressed a button.

Since his spider-sense didn't go off – even though it was already buzzing from the water above – Spider-Man didn't move. Indeed, nothing happened. For a painful moment, all three just stood there looking at each other.

Spider-Man broke the silence. "Was that supposed to do something? Was it going to fry my brain? Or give me a root canal"

Black Spider, judging by his body language, seemed confused. "What? Your suit isn't deactivated. How is that possible?"

"Wait, what?" Spider-Man said "You thought that I was wearing a suit? That's cute precious." Spider-Man launched himself towards Black Spider. The surprised villain tried to web the youthful hero up, but the web-slinger easily avoided the villain's attack, and landed on his feet, on the very wall Black Spider was clung to. Black Spider tried to hurl himself at the wall-crawler, but his speed and strength could not compare to the hero's. Spider-Man punched him and then webbed him to the wall.

Just in the nick of time, Spider-Man's spider-sense had him avoiding Hook's attack. Hook had hurled his prosthetic limb at the web-slinger. Again, with a difficult to match agility, Spider-man leapt down and webbed the villain's arm. Then, in a quick sprint, he punched Hook in the face, knocking him out. Spider-Man's muscles were still tensed; his spider-sense was still detecting another foe.

Spider-man's spider-sense once again saved the wall-crawler's bacon, forcing him to dodge an incredibly powerful blast. There was another blast, and Spider-Man jumped up towards the ceiling, and he had a chance at seeing his attacker – a man with a duffel bag wearing a strange helmet with a single large lens where the eyes should be. The lens glowed, and another blast came out of it, which Spider-Man again dodged. The wall-crawler aimed and shot a web at the man's face. The web however did not get to hit him, as one blast was enough to vaporize it.

"Were you ever called four-eyes as a kid?" the web-slinger asked.

"I am Professor Ojo fool!" the man said, and another blast came out of his eye-lens. Spider-Man dodged the blast again; however, it was apparent that the blasts were taking their toll on the museum. The walls now had brand new holes. And the blasts themselves were keeping the web-slinger from approaching the villain and punching his lights out. Professor Ojo blasted again, and Spider-Man leapt to dodge his blast again and landed behind a chunk of wall. Things were getting kind of complicated.

"Spider-pest, I'm going to" the Professor started to say, but something had stopped him mid-sentence. Spider-Man came out of his cover – his spider-sense was not warning him of any immediate danger. He saw Tigress standing over Professor Ojo, her sword unsheathed. The professor's helmet had been cut, although not enough to show any gore. Tigress resheathed her sword coldly.

"Have you had enough fun?" she asked Spider-Man.

The wall-crawler looked at his fallen opponents. "I haven't even begun" he said.

"Web them up then. I'll call the cops" Tigress said. She looked at Professor Ojo's duffle bag and opened it. She pulled out a bright blue orb.

"Isn't that the rock of…er… Airon?" Spider-Man asked, trying hard to remember the rock's name as he webbed up Hook and Professor Ojo. He had seen the orb in the news. It was seemingly a big deal, and a point of contention with Aquaman.

"The rock of Arion. Yeah, Aquaman's been bitching about this. I'm pretty sure this is connected to what's going on now" Tigress said. She took out her phone and took a picture of the orb. She contacted the authorities.

After having done that, she pressed another button on her phone. It apparently seemed that she had been immediately answered.

"Kaldur, can you now tell us why this thing is so important to you and Aquaman?" she asked. She frowned, and Spider-Man wished he had the power of super-hearing. It was, at this time, more practical than super-weaving.

After a few seconds of conversation, Tigress hung up. "We can't let this thing touch sea water" she said "Or else things could get a lot worse"

"How so?" Spider-Man asked, not liking where this was going.

"Let's just say that if this rock does touch water, drowning will be the least of our concerns" she said, carefully wrapping up the orb within the duffle bag.

* * *

Even before Artemis had called him, Kaldur'ahm knew that what was happening to New York could only be the work of one man: Ocean Master. It was a mad plan, one which Kaldur himself could make no sense of, but the intention was clear. Ocean Master meant to release the Naiad, a horrible creature created by Arion's brother, Garn Daanuuth, a creature, which according to the ancient scriptures, could destroy minds and lock the spirits of its victims in a world of eternal nightmares. Arion had locked it into its old egg, but even then, it was known that water from the ocean could break the Naiad's spell and free her.

Aqualad had to hurry, little time was left. He wished that Zatanna hadn't raised the magic barrier around New York; it made the Zeta-Beam impossible to use. But Kaldur understood why she had done it. Otherwise, Zatanna and Artemis would have had evacuated everyone in New York, even if it was at the expense of the secret location of the Zeta-Beam entry point. But the flooding had been too quick, forcing Zatanna to raise the barrier. Kaldur couldn't blame her.

Through the corner of his eye, Kaldur could see La'gaan swimming by him. The young Atlantean was eager to fight Ocean Master.

"Finally, we have a chance to take care of Ocean Master once and for all!" the young green Atlantean said.

Kaldur nodded. "It would be a great victory. One that our king would certainly welcome" and the defeat and capture of Ocean Master would certainly lift Aquaman's spirits. His brother Orm's state of health was bothering the monarch, even though he never expressed his concerns. Kaldur had noticed Orm's failing health and had managed to gather a skin sample from the prince. Nothing had been detected, and King Orin was greatly concerned. The recent reappearance of Ocean Master only made things worse, along with prince Orm's occasional disappearances.

The two Atlanteans quickly came into eyesight of New York City, covered in a golden bubble of magical energy. Kaldur's eye also caught the sight of his father's men and Ocean Master's men blasting at the bubble, trying to open a crack in it.

Kaldur motioned for La'gaan to take cover.

"By Neptune's beard! We should be charging them head on!" the young Lagoon Boy said.

"Right now, we are outnumbered" Kaldur said. He spotted Ocean Master easily enough, and he saw the villain jab the blade of his mystical spear into the force-field. Kaldur added, "And we don't know what magic Ocean Master is using. That spear's power feels odd"

La'gaan had no choice but to agree. He looked at the spear himself. "Why did he replace his trident for that?"

"There must be a reason" Kaldur said. He felt the water ripple behind him. He turned and smiled as he saw Aquaman's forces arriving. They weren't as many as Manta's men and Ocean Master's people, but they were enough for a daring charge.

"I think we can attack now" Kaldur said. The only option they had now was to attack. Zatanna's barrier wasn't going to last for very long under the continued assault that Ocean Master had submitted it to.

La'gaan smiled, and was the first to leave his cover. Usually, when attacking an enemy armed with projectile weapons, common wisdom would dictate that one should seek cover. However, in this case, Manta's men and Ocean Master's Atlanteans were occupied trying to destroy the magic dome over the submerged New York. Aquaman's forces, under Aqualad's command were swift in their charge, and silent. The besieging forces were taken by surprise.

The first to notice was Manta's man. He turned to look and see an Atlantean soldier swimming straight at him like a torpedo.

"We're under attack!" he managed to yell out, before the Atlantean had rammed him. The others had heard the warning, but by then, it was too late. The Atlantean forces were upon the renegades, and the weapons stopped firing on the city.

Ocean Master was perhaps the one taken most by surprise. He was still trying to open a crack in the dome when La'gaan, his body puffed up, swiped at his face knocking him around in the water.

Angered by the assault, Ocean Master snarled. "How dare you attack me you green freak!" he said, trying to jab at the young Atlantean.

La'gaan growled and swiped at Ocean Master again, this time striking his mask and cutting it off. The mask slowly floated down on the watery ground. La'gaan stood there in shock as he saw the face of Prince Orm.

"How could…" La'gaan never had the chance to finish the sentence. Ocean Master, enraged at the teenaged Atlantean, clenched his spear tightly in his hand, and swung at his foe. La'gaan was cut in half, from groin to head. Blood came floating out in large bubbles as the two halves slowly came down to the watery ground, and the innards floated about in the same manner as seaweed.

Ocean Master just snarled.

Kaldur however, had seen it. "La'gaan!"

Aqualad hit several renegade Atlanteans with massive war-hammers shaped out of his water-bearers, and made his way towards the renegade prince. He had many questions in the back of his mind as to why the royal prince, who had been so kind, was the hated Ocean Master, but foremost in his mind at the moment was vengeance. La'gaan's gruesome death could not go unpunished.

In a second, like a torpedo, he had reached Ocean Master. Sharp sabers came out of his water-bearers, and Aqualad hacked furiously at prince Orm. The renegade prince tried to block as many hacks as he could, but Aqualad's fury was unabated. Orm found himself moving backwards in the water, struggling to survive the young hero's onslaught. Ocean Master poured his will into the spear, in a last ditch effort to save himself. The pommel glowed, and a wave of energy pushed Kaldur back.

"You stinking little whelp. Do you think you can beat me? I remember the last time we fought, and you were on your knees boy! When this is over, your skin will decorate my palace halls" Ocean Master said in such a rage that his face was red.

Kaldur's rage was equal to his enemy's, but his expression was more controlled, seemingly more serene. "I was a boy when we last fought, and that I have ceased to be for quite some time now. You on the other hand, my prince, have degraded considerably. You were a royal prince of Atlantis, a man of the highest status, second only to King Orin himself. And now look at you. Your scheming and conniving – your betrayal, have earned you nothing. From this day forward Prince Orm, you will be an outcast. What did you hope to accomplish?"

"I will not be mocked by an impious boy. I will have what is rightfully mine!" Orm held up his spear before Kaldur. The pommel glowed, as did the rest of the spear.

"What you had was more than many could hope for, and you still wanted more?" Kaldur said. He let out a laugh "You are such a fool my prince. You are the prince of fools, but I will give you what's rightfully yours. Me, and all of Atlantis."

It was then that Ocean Master realized that he was surrounded. His forces had been defeated. There was no escape. Ocean Master's lip curled in a snarl.

"I am more powerful than you realize" he said. Ocean Master lifted his spear upwards, and there was a sudden surge of energy. Ocean Master was set ablaze – nothing within the ocean had ever witnessed such a flame. He yelled out, and his body burned away to nothing, as did the spear's shaft and blade. All that was left behind was the cubic pommel, now a perfect, glowing cube with a gradually weakening luster, slowly floating down to the ground.

There was an audible banging noise. Kaldur turned to see in horror as the dome began to crack, and open apart.

* * *

Spider-Man's spider-sense was still nagging at him. He didn't know if it was because the city was still submerged, or if it was because of the orb which contained within it a sealed horror. Even though he had webbed it into a tight container – something like a spider's egg sack – he was still bothered by the fact that just a few ounces of oceanic water could release the horror within it. And the city of New York just happened to be surrounded by sea water at that very moment. And to make matters worse, several aquatic chuckleheads were blasting at the magic dome. The wall-crawler wondered if Zatanna had the strength to keep the barrier up, as well as evacuating people, which she had been doing simultaneously.

Although Zatanna was whisking people away with her magic, there were still plenty within New York, and Spider-Man kept on swinging along the streets, using his webs to seal any refuge that still had people within.

Below, Spider-Man could see Wildcat fighting off street thugs who were trying to take advantage of the situation to loot a few abandoned mom and pop stores. Even in this universe, scum was stupid enough to loot in the face of impending doom. They outnumbered the old man and they were surrounding him, but they all seemed too scared to approach. Spider-man couldn't blame them.

As the old man gave a devastating uppercut to one of the thugs, Spider-Man landed right next to him and jabbed another in the face.

"Mind if I join you?" the wall-crawler asked.

"There's more than enough to go around" the old superhero said as he gave a knife wielding tough a powerful left cross. Spider-Man was quick, and in a series of kicks, punches and miraculous web-slinging, had dominated his share of the thugs. Wildcat used only his fists, and that seemed to be enough. The wall-crawler knew that the old man was spry for his age, but he could now see how truly agile the former champ was. Shortly after Spider-Man had dealt with his thugs, Wildcat gave a jab to the last of his, knocking the poor ruffian to the ground.

"So son, did you finish your chores?" the old man asked, not even taking a breather after the fight.

"Every place I could think of is webbed up. How's Zatanna?"

"She's holding" Wildcat said "She's tough. Tigress is next to the barrier wall. It seems that things are looking up for us"

"Really? Too bad that we're still here. Under the sea" Spider-Man said with some frustration. He still wished that there was a flaming android to solve all of the problems. That would be nifty.

"We got to be patient. Besides, we're in good hands; that Aqualad knows what he's doing" the old man said "let's go join Tigress and see how they're doing"

"I read you loud and clear" Spider-Man said, leaping into the air. He caught the old superhero in a web and began swinging about the city with him in tow.

"This is not what I meant!" the old man yelled out, unnerved.

Wildcat's ordeal was soon over, as Spider-Man quickly made his way to the magical wall that separated New York from the sea. Tigress stood there, with her arms crossed, as the spectacle unfolded. The good guys seemed to be winning, but the horrified look on her face – which not even her mask could hide – told Spider-Man and Wildcat that something horrible had happened.

"Tigress dear, what's wrong?" Wildcat asked.

"Lagoon Boy" she said. She seemed to try to find more words, but they didn't come out. Tigress turned her attention back to the fight that was occurring within the sea, outside of New York.

Spider-Man hadn't known Lagoon Boy for very long; they had said hello, and that was it. But it was unnerving to know that a superhero could die. He then spotted Lagoon Boy's cut up corpse, and then he felt sick.

And still the fight proceeded, with Kaldur attacking Ocean Master furiously. This was the first time Spider-Man had seen the villain, and without his mask to boot. Oddly enough the man seemed familiar.

"I've seen that face somewhere before" Spider-Man said.

"That's Prince Orm. Aquaman's brother" Tigress said flatly.

Spider-Man wondered if Aquaman had more than one brother, because the Atlantean always spoke highly of his. He decided to not press the issue, and turned his attention on the gruesome spectacle before them.

It was odd, but Spider-Man felt that something near Ocean Master was calling him.

Ocean Master was surrounded, and then he did something that super-villains usually do – he let out one last blast. Spider-Man knew those too well and the way in which it made his spider-sense tingle was always the same.

"We have to get out of here" Spider-Man said.

"Of course we do. Where should we go?" Tigress asked peevishly.

Spider-Man's head suddenly turned upwards. The dome ceiling was cracking, and water was already sifting into the city. The crack quickly widened and allowed a steady stream to fall down upon the street.

"This is not what we needed right now" Tigress said.

The crack soon turned into a hole, and the stream turned into a cascade that was comparable to Niagara Falls. Spider-Man quickly grabbed Wildcat and Tigress and hugged them closely.

"We ain't dead yet son!" Wildcat said.

"I know" Spider-Man replied, as he began to weave a spherical cocoon around them. Soon, all three were within an airtight capsule while the water gushed outside, hurling them this way and that.

"Now would be a good time to call for help" Spider-Man said.

Tigress already had her phone in her hand and looked at the wall-crawler with a scowl.

"Do you really think that I'm new to this?" she asked, annoyed. Her fingers moved quickly on the device. And then, the spherical capsule stopped moving about, and it began to downwards, towards the ground. The pounding within Spider-Man's head suddenly stopped.

"Is it over?" Wildcat asked.

"I think it is" Spider-Man said. He looked at his two companions "Hold your breath just in case" he tore a small hole within the capsule.

If it hadn't been for the lenses in his mask, Spider-Man would have been blinded by the sunlight. He stretched out his arm, and the only water he felt were the drops dripping from the cocoon.

Quickly, Spider-Man increased the size of the hole and he stepped out. New York was once again on dry land. The web-slinger stretched out his arms and took in the sunlight. "Come on out. It's safe"

"We figured that out smarty-pants" Tigress said as she came out of the cocoon. Wildcat followed her, letting the webbing cocoon crumble to the ground.

It was a strange scene; New York seemed abandoned, and everything was wet, as if there had been a violent rainstorm. But all now was well, and the sun seemed to show that for the rest of the day, everything would be alright.

They weren't alone. Kaldur and Zatanna approached; the magician seemed exhausted and was leaning heavily on the Atlantean's shoulder. Kaldur didn't seem that much relaxed. He was worn, and his fist was clinched. It took a while for the friendly neighborhood web-slinger to notice that he was holding something within his hand. Tigress rushed towards Zatanna; Kaldur released the magician into Artemis' care.

"It is done." Kaldur said "We will not have to worry about Ocean Master anymore"

"We know. We saw the whole thing" Tigress said. "What about La'gaan?"

"My people will deal with his remains" he said with sorrow, "Take care of Zatanna. Pushing the ocean back has left her exhausted"

Spider-Man's attention however, was on Kaldur's closed hand. He could still hear something calling for him, something which made his spider-sense buzz in a bizarre way "I'm really sorry to ask this, but what's that in your hand?"

Kaldur opened his hand, revealing the cube that had been the spear's pommel. It glowed faintly with a sickly yellow light.

"This is all that remains of the spear Ocean Master was using as a weapon" he said.

Artemis noticed it, and quickly snatched it from Kaldur's hand. Everyone present looked on aghast.

"That was rude Artemis" Zatanna said.

Artemis looked at Kaldur; clearly, she was embarrassed. She was also quite adamant in her intent. "I'm sorry, but I need someone to check out this cube. Wally told me about it. Please Kaldur."

Kaldur stared at Artemis for a second. "Very well, it would be best if it were to be studied by the League"

"Thank you Kaldur" Artemis said. As she turned to go to the nearby Zeta-Beam entry point, Spider-Man could feel the cube whispering in his head. It was as if a relative were trying to speak to you.

* * *

Doom was studying a father box, when his own laptop began ringing. The Latverian opened the computer, and the monitor immediately turned on. The monitor was playing a video feed; there was no sound attached. Doom recognized the codes immediately. It was coming from the A.I of one of the Doombots. Although it had clearly lost its body, it had probably managed to download itself into the nearest computer.

It didn't take long for Dr. Doom to find out where the video footage had come from: a hiding place for this universe's – this Earth's – superheroes. It could even be the famed Watchtower that he heard about from Queen Bee. Doom wondered how the Doombot A.I. had managed to infiltrate within this computer. Without a doubt, certain irregularities would have been detected. But that didn't matter. He had to accept the gift that had landed on his lap.

Doom recognized the figures within the video easily enough. One was Tigress, who had once pretended to be a member of the light, one of Black Manta's henchwomen. The other was the scientist called the Atom. Tigress was handing the scientist a cube. Doom recognized it. He knew that glow only too well. The last time he had heard of something like it, Captain America had hurled it into the bottom of the ocean so as to keep it off of the hands of the Red Skull. Was this the same cube?

With interest, Doom saw where the Atom had placed the cube – on a non-descript shelf next to other nonsensical items. With nimble fingers, Doom typed out a command that would not be detected by any computer specialist – not even the best hacker. It was now a matter of time.

Content with his lot, Doom closed the laptop. With a smile on his face, he entered the bathroom. Queen Bee was inside, taking a shower. There was no shower curtain to hide her form.

"My queen, I've had a very busy day. I was wondering if I could join you in your bath?" he said with a smirk.

"You are always welcome darling Victor" she said.

* * *

_**Endnote:** Well, this one took much longer than I thought - again. My apologies for the delay, but I've had to answer to a few personal obligations. I also need to alert anyone who's interested in this story that from the twentieth of November onward, I might be a bit more occupied than I usually am, so there might be some delay with new chapters._

_Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter (I was trying to have Artemis be wary of Spider-Man, but I don't know if I succeeded - this was how the story ended up). And my apologies to anyone offended by the imagery of Bueno Excelente and Dr. Light. It's just something that's been haunting my imagination since Identity Crisis._

_Anyhoo, I hope to bring you a new chapter as soon as I can._


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